Page 2 of The Jade Stone Sleuth

No, Brex was bothered with the idea of getting close to Ms. Clara Gem to gain her trust and then exposing her. Assignments of this nature had been unsettling shades of gray with the police. He’d had to soothe his own conscience when he was working for America and the targets had been identifiable criminals. But now, working for the almighty dollar and Clara appearing innocent and benevolent troubled him. He and his friends in Aiden’s tech team hadn’t found any evidence supporting the Hendry family’s claims. Neither had the police nor FBI. The only clue that anything was amiss was that jade-colored stone and one woman having three boyfriends die in accidents.

The million-dollar bonus attached to this job was his prime motivator and would make it worth his time. When Aiden offered to pay Brex his usual monthly salary, keep the Hendry’s twenty thousand retainer for Aiden’s security company, and giveBrex the million-dollar bonus if he could solve this cold case, he’d jumped at the offer.

Now he felt a twinge of guilt about the huge payout. What if he was investigating an innocent woman? He hated wasting time on false claims, and he hated witch hunts, which he felt this might be. He’d been on far too many of those in his time with SDPD.

But a million dollars changed things.

He wanted to ask Mrs. Pamela Hendry more about what she’d thought of Clara Gem dating her only son prior to Malik’s death but didn’t suspect that would go over well. From his research, Pamela and Clara were polar opposites. Pamela was polished and stylish and Clara was benevolent and had more of a natural, untouched type of beauty about her. Not that he was checking Ms. Clara Gem out. The women he pursued were enhanced and experts with makeup and clothing, to fit his image. Women like Pamela’s daughter, if she had one.

“We need your help,” Pamela said. “We need closure for our son’s death. We also feel duty-bound to lock Clara Gem in a dark prison … before she murders anyone else.”

She said the last line too dramatically for Brex’s taste, but he wasn’t a parent who’d lost their only son. It was heartbreaking and he wanted them to have closure as well. Maybe the bubbly, naturally-pretty, charitable Clara Gem that he’d studied all the information he and the tech team could uncover the past few days on was really a dark monster. He’d seen crazier things.

Part of him was tempted to walk back out the door and tell Aiden and Nick to let some other security company go on this witch hunt, but they wouldn’t have taken the case if there wasn’t probable cause, and Brex wasn’t in a position to reject the first job they sent him on. He was here. He wanted to prove himself to Aiden and Nick, and the truth needed to be discovered on these deaths. The million-dollar bonus was the icing on the cake—ormaybe the money was the cake and the rest of the motivators were the icing. No time to riddle that one out right now.

Brex made up his mind to see the job through and nodded to Pamela and then to Rulon. “I’ll get close to Clara Gem and find out if each of her boyfriends died of natural causes, as is stated in the police and FBI reports, or if she, or someone else, killed them.”

Pamela studied him. She clearly didn’t appreciate Brex’s wording. She wanted Ms. Gem to be held responsible for her son’s death. There must’ve been bad blood while they were dating, or her son’s death had devastated her and she needed someone to blame. Nobody would blame her for that.

How many times had his own mom probably been up all night praying for him since he’d left the farm and rarely returned? She and his dad would be devastated if they lost him or his sister.

Brex hadn’t turned to prayer himself in a long time. Not since Alayna dumped him for not being ‘pious’ and ‘refined’ enough for her public persona. He appreciated his mom’s prayers, but he’d seen a lot of darkness and sadness in his days with SDPD and doubted her prayers were doing much for his hardened soul.

“Thank you.” Rulon stood, clearly done with this conversation. He held out his hand.

Brex stood and gave him a firm handshake.

“We appreciate you taking the job,” Rulon continued. “We’ve paid Mr. Porter’s retainer, and the million-dollar bonus is set to transfer as soon as the job is done.”

“Thank you,” Brex said. He understood Rulon wasn’t trying to make this all about money, but he was a businessman and wanted the parameters set in all their minds.

Rulon turned toward the door. “I’ll walk you out.”

Brex turned with him. Pamela stayed seated.

“I need you to promise me one thing,” she said, arching her head back to look at him.

“What is that?” Brex didn’t make empty promises, not even to reassure a distraught mother.

“You’ll have to grow close to Clara, pretend to be her boyfriend, and risk being her next victim to get the information.”

Brex had to hide a smile at that. He might not be on Aiden or Nick’s level, but they’d trained him well and he’d been a seasoned detective.

Brexton Cabella was no woman’s victim.

“Swear to me you won’t fall for Clara Gem’s fake sweetness, sense of humor, or her beauty. I can’t have it on my head if you get distracted and lose sight of your purpose. You could die too.” Her eyes got bright. “I begged Malik not to get involved with her and look where he is.”

Brex frowned. What kind of professional did she take him for? Did she somehow know this was his first job for Aiden? He could list dozens of cases throughout his years with SDPD where he’d worked with beautiful and impressive women and kept an emotional and physical distance. He would never fall for a suspect.

“Mrs. Hendry, I am a professional. I would never allow an emotional attachment with a job or fall for a suspect’s sweetness, sense of humor, or beauty. And honest truth, Ms. Gem is not my type.”

He wasn’t sure why he’d added the last line, though it was true. Him dating a sweet Christian girl was laughable. His type was none of Pamela’s business, but he was tempted to show her a photo of his latest date, the beautiful actress Rachel Isom. She was gorgeous and on the cusp of being a household name. Her latest two leading roles with Amazon’s MGM Studios had gone well and she’d been thrilled with the notoriety Aiden’s namewould lend to both of them. Not that they were dating seriously, but Brex wasn’t opposed to the idea.

Pamela stayed stiff in her chair but gave him as much of a smile as her pristine features would allow. “Thank you. That eases my mind substantially.”

“You’re welcome. Thank you for trusting me with this job.” He nodded to her and followed Rulon through the living area and the two-story entry.

Rulon opened the front door and stepped back. Brex walked through it.

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