“So?” I ask. “Did you find anything red-flag worthy?”
He shakes his head. “Actually, I did not,” he says. “As far as I can tell, she's squeaky clean. From what I've been able to gather, she seems like a nice girl. I think you chose well with this one.”
I laugh. “I appreciate you looking out for me,” I say. “But, I don't know where things between us are headed. Or, to be honest, if they're going anywhere at all.”
“Her choice or yours?”
I shrug. “Mutual. I think,” I say. “I don't know that either of us is in a place right now where we would be good together. We probably shouldn't even be considering a relationship right now. Both of us are pretty damaged. Or at least, I am.”
Adam looks at me evenly. “I see the way you light up whenever her name is mentioned,” he says. “Personally, I think it's worth exploring. You might be surprised at how quickly having a good woman in your life can undo the damage someone else caused. At how she can help you heal.”
I nod. Intellectually, I understand what he's saying, and I know that he's got a point. But, I don't know that I'm ready. Like I told her, I don't want to close the door on the possibility of us. I just don't know when I'll be ready to walk through it again.
“Anyway,” Adam says. “Not trying to pressure you into something or anything like that. Obviously, you have to be ready. I'm just letting you know that you probably don't have anything to worry about with Paige. As near as I can tell, she seems to be exactly what she says she is.”
“Thanks, Adam,” I say. “I appreciate that.”
“You got it,” he replies. “So, what did you want to see me about?”
“Well, I think we've found our point A,” I say.
He arches an eyebrow at me. “Oh yeah?”
“I think so,” I say. “The developer leading the charge in Port Safira is none other than –”
“Damon Moore,” Adam finishes my sentence.
I chuckle. “Amazing. Are you psychic?”
“Nope,” I said. “Just very good at my job.”
“Are you looking into him for something?”
“In a manner of speaking,” he says. “Given his track record, there are some folks concerned about buildings suddenly collapsing. I've been asked to look into a few things on that front.”
I nod. “That's a very legitimate concern.”
“So, I'm gathering,” he replies. “What makes you think he's point A?”
“He was in Grady's that night,” I say. “I don't know why it didn't occur to me earlier. But he was there that night too. I had words with him just before Brittany showed up.”
Adam adjusts his ball cap and lets out a long breath. “Interesting. Pretty coincidental timing, I'd say.”
“I'm an idiot for not thinking about it before, but yeah,” I say. “It seems like a pretty big coincidence.”
“Big enough to choke on,” he replies. “So, Moore either finds or follows you to the bar – point A. He calls Brittany – point B. Brittany calls Waltham – point C.”
“And we have our connection.”
“So, it would seem,” he says. “But tell me, just to play Devil's Advocate here, why would Moore want you dead?”
“Other than the fact that he's my bitch? Business-wise, that is?” I ask. “ADE blows his company out of the water on every front.”
“But, what does he get out of it?” Adam asks. “I mean, let's say Brittany manages to take you out. It's not like he will benefit. One of your brothers will take over your territory and ADE goes on without missing a beat.”
“Oh, gee thanks,” I say and chuckle. “I didn't realize I'm that expendable.”
Adam laughs. “You know what I mean.”
“I do,” I say. “And you're not wrong. One of my brothers would step in and he wouldn't gain any ground on ADE. So, I don't quite know what his play here is. I don't see how he benefits.”
“Unless...”
Adam's voice trails off as he looks off into the distance, and I can see the wheels turning in his mind. Suddenly, a thought bursts through my mind like a flashing neon sign. Something that I should have seen earlier – and is no doubt exactly what Adam is thinking.
“Unless she cut a deal with Damon to take my company and then sell it to him,” I say.
“That's kind of where I was going in my thinking,” he says, “If something happens to you, Brittany still stands to inherit everything. Right?”
“Yeah, until all the paperwork has been cleared with the lawyers,” I say. “I mean, I'm sure there would be a court battle between her and my brothers, but ultimately, yeah she'd probably win. She'd get it all.”
“If she gets it all,” he says, “that would give her plenty of motive to work with a shady character like Damon. And Damon, trying to avoid being your bitch any longer, has plenty of motive to want to make this happen.”
I lean back in my seat and let out a long breath. “Son of a bitch,” I say. “Tens of millions of dollars’ worth of motive.”
We sit in silence for a moment, absorbing it all. I'm looking at it from every angle that I can think of, trying to decide whether or not I'm jumping to massive conclusions, or whether this is actually plausible. Brittany isn't the sharpest tool in the shed to begin with and I doubt she'd have the smarts to engineer something like this on her own. Which means that she'd need somebody as shady as Damon to make this plan work.
Which means that yeah, it's definitely plausible.
“It's kind of an elegant plan if you think about it,” Adam laughs.
I give him a long look. “Elegant?”
He shrugs. “I'm just saying that maybe they're not as stupid as I thought.”
As much as I hate to admit it, Adam’s not wrong. It's actually a smart plan. Of course, I give Brittany and her boyfriend no credit. I know that the brain behind such a devious idea had to have been Damon. If there's something this manipulative or evil in the works, it had to have come straight from his brain.
Brittany and Waltham have their roles to play, undoubtedly, but Damon is the one behind the curtain on this. I just know it. I can feel it in my damn bones.
“The first thing we need to do is prove that there is a connection between Brittany, Waltham, and Damon,” Adam says. “We need to connect all of these points in order to have something tangible.”
“Can you look into it for me?”
Adam nods. “I'm on it,” he says. “It'll be more interesting than following idiots like this around.”
I turn and look to find the guy Adam's been tailing doing handstands in front of the women, who continue to giggle and clap for him. I just shake my head and turn back to Adam.
“I appreciate it,” I say.
He nods, an inscrutable expression crossing his face. “Can I offer you a bit of advice?”
“Sure.”
“It's almost Valentine's Day, you know,” he says. “While I'm doing my thing, maybe you should put a little something together for a certain bookstore owner. You never know what might happen if you pretend to go out and have a little fun. Who knows? Maybe, you'll accidentally end up having some.”
I laugh and give him a bright smile. Like I told Paige, I'm not in the right headspace for a relationship right now. Although I don't want to close the door on the possibility, I fear that taking her out on Valentine's Day, of all days, would send a message that I don't intend to send.
“I'm not sure it would be a good idea,” I say.
He shrugs. “Just food for thought,” he replies. “Like I said earlier, from what I’ve learned, Paige is a good woman. The kind of woman a man like you could use in his life. Just a little something to think about.”
“Thanks, Adam,” I say. “I'll definitely give it some thought.”
He nods and gets to his feet. “Well, I should go,” he says. “Have another idiot with a back problem to track down and get on camera. My tracker says he's at the gym. Why are these people so stupid?”
I shake my head and laugh. “If they weren't, you'd be out of a job.”