Page 116 of Fall to Me
Her brows furrow in confusion. “What doyoumean? The night we got in that huge fight . . . he was the one who told me you hired him.”
I jerk my head toward her. “I didn’t hire this man.”
The stranger holds up a hand and cranes his neck. Addressing River he says, “I apologize for the misunderstanding. At the time that I spoke to you, Mrs. Graham, I wasn’t awareyou were remarried to Mr. Graham. Can we maybe take this somewhere more private so I can explain?”
Oh, he’s going to explain. My eyes narrow as I take him in. The man looks to be about my age, maybe mid-thirties. Light brown hair, clean cut, and sharp blue eyes. He’s broad and built, wearing gray dress pants and a crisp light blue button-up. There’s nothing about him that leads me to believe he’s a threat, but I don’t want to chance anything.
“Baby, go back to the ballroom with Diesel while I talk to . . .” I trail off waiting for his name.
“Ryder Vance,” he offers.
“Oh, no you don’t.” River cuts in, sliding in front of me and forcing me to face her. She jabs the air between us with her red, manicured fingernail in my face. “You promised. You said that you would include me in everything from here on out. I’m not going back into that ballroom without you.”
She’s right. I did promise her that, and I’ve already broken one promise to her. I don’t know this Ryder guy, and I haven’t quite pegged him yet, but there’s five of us and only one of him. He won’t get very far if he tries something. Huffing out a sigh, I concede and turn toward security, giving them a nod.
We make our way down the hallway, Diesel leading Ryder, Tony walking ahead of us, and Hector at our backs. The muffled bass from the Gala trails behind us, the music fading lower and lower the further we walk. Diesel tries a couple of doors, only to find them locked. Rounding a corner to the left, we follow down another hallway, trying every door we pass, until midway down, we find a door unlocked and step into an office.
The office is bare. Empty walls. No trace of any personal belongings. Just a single oak desk with a black swivel chair behind it, and two chairs pushed against the wall beside the door. I motion Ryder toward the desk chair, but he shakes hishead and remains standing. Each of the guys takes a corner, watching intently.
Smart move.
Leaning back against the wall, I pull River to my side, then release her hand just in case this guy tries anything. “We’re all here,” I point out. “Let’s talk.”
Ryder clears his throat, his eyes flicking to me before settling on River. “Mrs. Graham, I’m a third-party private investigator, based here in New York. I not only work with the NYPD, FBI, and various law firms, I also work with private clients. Mr. Martin hired me under the pretense that you were still his wife who was having an affair, but after doing some digging, the things that he told me didn’t add up. His stories became contradictory, and I became concerned for your safety, especially when I saw Mr. Martin following you even though he had hired me. That’s why?—”
“Wait.” I cut him off, dragging a hand over my jaw. “I hired a private investigator, and he told me that Jaxon was in Oklahoma.”
“Well, Mr. Graham?—”
“Please, call me Carter.”
“Certainly. I can assure you, Carter, that isn’t the case.” He focuses back on River. “I sat behind you at the game to warn you. I thought you and Mr. Martin were maybe separated and he was having issues with letting go. That is, until I discovered records of your divorce. At that time, I didn’t realize you were remarried. Imagine my surprise when Detective Matthews contacted me to investigate you, Carter.”
I hold up my hand and interject. “Hold on. The NYPD hired you to investigate me? Why don’t they do that themselves?”
“The force is stretched thin. You’re high profile. And let’s just say, Detective Matthews is driven with a personal motivation to solve this case.”
That’s what I gathered from our run in.
“Don’t worry. I’ve turned everything I have over to Detective Matthews, and your name has been cleared. Now he has me investigating Mr. Martin. We just need more evidence so the DA can build her case against him for the attack. I’ll admit the son of a bitch is smart, tenacious, and unhinged. There’s not enough evidence to put him away because we can’t prove he was in your penthouse. Are you aware that he’s frequently in and out of your building?”
My blood runs cold, and my body stiffens.
“Can you give me one minute?” I ask, digging my phone out of my pocket.
I pull up the contact for my private investigator and press the call button, then put the phone on speaker.
“This is Lee,” he answers.
A sharp gasp escapes River’s mouth as she drops to her knees, tremors racking her body. I begin to end the call, but Ryder places a finger to his mouth and shakes his head, then gestures for me to continue.
“Lee, sorry to call you so late, man. Any word on Jaxon?”
Car horns blare in the background, and I hear a crosswalk sign repeating, “Wait. Wait. Wait,” as he says, “Still the same as I told you this morning. I have him tracked in Oklahoma.”
“Thanks. I’ll touch base tomorrow.”
“Yep.”
