Chapter Twenty
The night seemed to drag on. Jackson was desperately trying to keep his mind on the conversation, but he just wasn’t interested in hearing about his brother’s latest business deal. He was probably being rude, but at the moment he couldn’t care less.
His mother had grabbed Ridley after dinner and offered to show her some of the crops they’d just planted. They’d come back a little while ago carrying small baskets of blackberries. Ridley had been smiling from ear to ear.
Now most of the family had migrated out to the large back deck and his dad had brought out a small stereo. His cousin Laura and her husband were twirling around, dancing like they were the only two people in the world. Chris and Jase ran back and forth across the lawn with Laura’s two girls, chasing fireflies.
It would be as perfect a summer night as any if Ridley wasn’t all the way on the other side of the lawn, deep in conversation with his parents.
It was taking all his willpower not to storm over and drag her back out to the barn. Now that it was almost dark he was about willing to take his chances with getting caught.
“Why don’t you just put us all out of our misery and go over there?” Nick grumbled.
“Am I that transparent?” Jackson couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he realized just how obvious his thoughts had been. Everyone had probably noticed him ogling Ridley all night. Not that he cared. If he had his way, his family would be seeing a lot more of her.
He grinned and clapped Nick on the shoulder before setting off across the yard. He could only hope his parents hadn’t told her anything embarrassing. Knowing his mother, she had probably already offered to show Ridley the family photo albums.
As he approached, he smiled to himself while watching his mom and dad interact. Even after thirty years of marriage, they still held hands and could finish each other’s sentences. His father hugged his mother to his side with a possessive arm around her waist. Jackson looked at Ridley and his chest tightened. He could definitely see himself chasing after her like an old dog for the next fifty years or so. The biggest surprise of the night?
It wasn’t as scary of a thought as he’d expected.
“I just wanted to see if I could steal this beautiful lady away for a dance.”
Jackson surprised himself by leaning down and dropping a kiss on her cheek. His mother’s eyebrows shot up under her bangs. Considering how his mother was beaming at them, he was sure she definitely wouldn’t mind.
“Well, we’ve kept these two kids apart long enough. Now I want to dance with my beautiful wife. Come along, Julia. Laura and her husband have been putting us to shame. Let’s show these kids how we two-stepped back in our day.” He nodded at Jackson and whisked his wife off with a flourish.
“Alone at last.” Jackson held his arms open and allowed Ridley to settle herself against his length before gently swaying to the music. He could barely keep up with the rhythm because he was so distracted by the feeling of Ridley’s heart beating against his. “I’m so ready to go.”
“Jackson! We can’t just run off. How will that look?” Her eyes danced as she gazed up at him.
“It’ll look like I’m happy to have a kid-free week and want to celebrate. You’re not leaving my bed this time.”
Her chest shook with silent laughter. “We can’t let your parents see us running out. They’ll know exactly what we’re rushing home to do!”
“Okay, knock it off you two. Get a room.” Eli appeared at their left and Jackson scowled at him.
“Everyone in this family has bad timing. Go away.”
“I just need to show your lady something. One of the guys I have looking into things just called me. I found out a little more about what David was up to.” Elliott pulled out his cell phone and tapped the screen a few times before holding it out to Ridley. “Do these accounts look familiar?”
Her brow crinkled as she read the screen. “No, what are these numbers?”
“They’re bank accounts. All in your name,” Elliott replied.
Ridley looked up at Jackson, clearly alarmed. “What? But those aren’t mine! I only have one bank account.”
Jackson froze. He hadn’t told her what Nick had shown him, hadn’t wanted to give any credence to such ugly accusations. He hoped Eli wasn’t going down the same path Nick was.
“I figured that but just wanted to verify it. I’m pretty sure David or someone he was working with was using your identity to wire money to offshore accounts. Ridley is a unisex name so it wouldn’t have appeared odd for him to use it.”
Jackson exhaled. “So he was using her identity. It makes sense. No one would have looked twice since she has such a clean credit history. “
“I used to, anyway.” Ridley rubbed her eyes wearily. Jackson pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head.
“Since your name was on everything, it made it harder for anyone to trace things back to him,” Eli continued. “It was the perfect system and if he got caught, he probably would have pretended he had no idea and blamed it all on you.”
“That’s comforting.”
Jackson pulled her closer. “It’ll be over soon.”
Ridley snorted. “It won’t be over until I untangle the mess he made. If he’s opened accounts in my name, then I’ll have to notify the credit bureaus, but who knows how long it will take before it’s all cleared up? What if I end up bankrupt from this?”
“Nick is the financial expert, but I’m sure he’ll be happy to help. He knows what paperwork to file so you aren’t held responsible for all that stuff.” Jackson tipped her chin up until she met his eyes. “You are not responsible for anyone else’s actions.”
“We will figure this out,” Eli said. “It’s possible the break-in at your place was unrelated, but until I figure out exactly who he defrauded and whether any of them were angry enough to retaliate, you’re better off keeping a low profile.”
“I hope you figure it out. Despite everything David did, I don’t think he deserved to die like that,” Ridley said.
“Of course. This is why I love my job. I get to right wrongs and help people who need it.”
“It sounds really exciting. I’m sure it has downsides, though. I can’t imagine putting myself in harm’s way for someone else. I would just freeze up. I don’t think I’d be able to do it.”
“You never know. Sometimes people respond the opposite of what you’d think. I had this one client, real tough biker guy. He hired us to protect his shop when there was a rash of burglaries in the area. We’d been watching the place for weeks. Nothing. Then suddenly, his shop was hit and somehow the guys got the drop on us. The client ended up with a gun to his head. I wasn’t sure how it was going to end but it wasn’t looking good.”
“What happened? Did he fight?” Ridley asked.