Sixteen
“Now, this is the way to roll,” Jules said, looking out her hotel room window at the ocean below. It was hard to grasp that in Miami the temperature was in the high eighties while, according to The Weather Channel, in Charlottesville, it was in the low forties. That was a big difference, which is why she needed these few extra days in Florida.
She moved from the window and glanced around her hotel room. Usually, to cut costs, she would stay in a modest hotel. However, this time, she’d splurged a bit, deciding to give herself an early Christmas present. This was a gorgeous two-room suite with separate living and dining rooms. She’d already checked out the fully equipped wet bar and Jacuzzi bathtub big enough for two. She could see herself sipping wine while covered in bubbles. This was definitely the type of place a person could relax and feel right at home, and she intended to do just that.
She was to appear in court at nine the next morning, but already she had made plans to spend as much of her free time on the beach as possible. And tomorrow evening after she left the court, she intended to go shopping for the sexiest dress she could find.
She walked across the room to browse the hotel booklet that listed numerous nightlife activities. She was excited and raring to go, and the first event that caught her eye was a jazz night tomorrow. And the nice thing was that the hotel had its own jazz club. How cool was that? She loved jazz, and after spending a day in court, it would be just what she’d need to unwind.
It had been after seven last night when she’d finally left her office for home. She had dug deep into all the information she could find on Marshall Imerson. The internet had been a great source of information, including the details of his auto accident. He was a married man and the father of a son who’d been in high school at the time of the accident.
She had talked to Manning this morning, and he understood just what information she still needed from the police, which meant digging into a bunch of old files. If Manning called requesting the information, he would get the runaround after being placed on hold for no telling how long. But if he showed up in person, the female clerks in the records department would be willing to jump through hoops to give him copies of whatever files he wanted. It happened every time.
Knowing she needed a clear head for court tomorrow, Jules decided to order room service for dinner, go over her investigative notes and get in bed early. But tomorrow night would be totally different. That’s when the fun would begin.
*
“You didn’t mention anything about leaving town for a few days,” Caden said, gazing sternly across the conference table at Dalton.
“I didn’t?” Dalton asked with a straight face.
“No,” Jace said, studying his brother as he leaned back in his chair.
“Well, I’m telling you now. I’m leaving in the morning and won’t be back until the weekend. There shouldn’t be a problem, since both of you have taken trips away from Charlottesville yourselves. This will be my first time doing so.”
He knew there was nothing his brothers could say after calling them out on that. Caden had left on two occasions to fulfill concert obligations, not to mention his elopement in Vegas. And Jace had taken two weeks off for his honeymoon.
“I don’t recall Jace or me saying we had a problem with it, Dalton. We merely stated this was the first we’d heard of it, so we can only assume it was a last-minute decision. What’s wrong? You’re headed to London because you’re missing your duchess?”
Dalton rolled his eyes. His brothers were razzing him about his long-standing affair with Lady Victoria Bowman. “For crying out loud, Caden, how many times do I need to remind you that Victoria’s not a duchess, she’s a lady—of English nobility—the daughter of an earl.”