Page 115 of Implode

I feel like I am going to pass out. “This doesn’t make sense. It’s also damn well ballsy to go to her residence.”

“Agree.”

The sound of my phone buzzing alerts me of an incoming text. It’s from Tyler.

Tyler: A female broke into Claire’s place but the motive is unclear

Nic: How do you know the gender? All the security cameras had a recording glitch apparently.

Tyler: Because I never stopped keeping tabs on Claire’s place despite you kicking me off the assignment…and I set up my own devices in unobtrusive areas outside the building, in the hallway near her room, and in the lobby. Female average height but in a ski mask.

Nic: Send me stills if you have them.

Within seconds, Tyler sends over what I need. Collins and I make eye contact, as curse words fly out of my mouth. I relay the message exchange.

“Do you believe him?” Collins asks.

“Yes. I’ve only ever doubted Tyler when evidence pointed to his betrayal. But men like us don’t get caught. And the evidence was so strikingly concrete that it had to be fabricated. So, I trust him.”

Collins nods. “Double crossing you would not be wise.”

Glancing back up the hill toward the mansion, I find Claire rocking on her heels beside Penny. I hate seeing her this agitated. “Yeah, butsomeonesure has a death wish. But who? That’s basically what it boils down to. Have you kept intel on my ex, Tara?”

“Yes,” Collins says softly. “She’s back in Virginia. I’ve been keeping tabs on her and all of her credit card records, and the security camera footage proves she hasn’t left the state in weeks. That said, she went from being in a decent amount of debt to suddenly being financially stable.”

“I didn’t give in to her demands for more money, that’s for sure. Definitely keep watch on her. I don’t trust her at all. She’s volatile at best. Figure out who cleared her debt just to be thorough.”

“Understood. What about Ethan’s fiancée, Deena?” Collins asks, appearing to be thinking out loud. “Could she be involved?”

I glance again at the photos that Tyler sent over. “Assuming these are authentic, it could be her.”

“Would Maxwell use her as bait?”

“He’s stupid enough to think he can’t be touched. So nothing would surprise me. And it would be just like Ethan to use his woman to try to gather evidence against Claire. He wants to take her to court. Says she showed up at his residence and beat the shit out of him.” I leave out the part that both women are pregnant. Now is not the time to open up about it. But could Deena be searching Claire’s place for proof? Does she think Claire is lying about her pregnancy? I mean, why would she do that?

“Taking her to court wouldn’t serve him well—especially with as much dirt as we have on him.”

“No argument there.” Then a thought hits me from a database search I did a few days ago. “I know I mentioned this already the other day via text, but I’ve discovered photos of Eugene and my personal assistant, Brenna, together. Granted, her hair was stark black prior to her going blonde. I may not have noticed her in the photos if I wasn’t already looking for discrepancies. I just can’t shake this feeling that something seems off with her.”

“Tell me more about Eugene. There wasn’t a huge digital footprint to be found online.”

We take a few steps, moving farther away from the noise. “Dan and Eugene were vying for the exact position I have currently. So, maybe there was tension there? I told Brenna not to report to work basically until I’m back in the office. I wanted to be sure she wasn’t using her position as a way of infiltrating the business.”

“I think it’s best to act like nothing is wrong until we put all of the puzzle pieces together. If you pull back too much, it draws red flags to your behavior and will make it harder to learn the truth.”

“Exactly.”

“How did Eugene get let go?”

“A lot of the security breaches happened on his watch. The logical reaction was to skim the fat on any of the weak links.”

Collins clears his throat. “I thought Brenna was actually starting to get interested in Dan.”

“Dan, really?”

“The past few times I was there, it seemed that she was going out of her way to be where he could be on her breaks.”

That’s the thing about Collins. He’s always been more than a bodyguard. He has an incredible set of instincts, and what he brings to the table is always valuable.

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