Twin Temptation

“I gave her the money,” said Cho. “Michelle is very proud. She was embarrassed to have to ask me for help.”

“Where did you get the money?” Jase asked.

Cho’s chin lifted slightly as he shifted his gaze to Jase. “Eva lent it to me.”

“Eva lent you the money?” Maddie asked.

Cho nodded. “Michelle needed it right away, and it would have taken time for me to get that amount out of my retirement fund. I would have had to sell some stocks at a loss. When Eva died, I told Jordan everything. You’ll get the money back.”

They hadn’t had a chance to tell Jordan about the money in Michelle’s account, Jase thought. But the fact that Cho had told her would give his story more credibility.

“Why did Michelle need the money so quickly?” Maddie asked.

Cho shook his head. “As I mentioned before, she’s a very proud girl. That was the reason she didn’t want anyone to know that we were related. She was determined to get this job on her own. She was still living in a dorm when she interned here. But as soon as she was hired full time, she decided she needed to find her own place to live. And since she was working here and was being paid well, she decided to buy a place. She needed thirty thousand dollars for a down payment. Instead of coming to me for help or advice, she borrowed the money.”

“Not from a bank,” Jase said.

“She tried and was turned down. Then a friend told her about a place where they were more understanding about young people starting out on good career paths.” Cho raised an eyebrow. “I believe they call them loan sharks in this country. She says she read the paperwork and that she was given an amount to pay monthly. Which she did. Then a month ago, she was told that she wasn’t even covering the interest on the loan and that her current balance was a hundred thousand dollars. Michelle’s a proud girl, but she’s not stupid. She knew that she was in trouble. That’s when she came to me for help.”

Maddie studied him for a moment. “Did Michelle know that you borrowed the money from Eva?”

“No. Eva withdrew the money from her account on the day we talked and she gave me a bank check. There’s no way that Michelle could have known. It would have shamed her even more to know that Eva was involved.”

Maddie glanced over her shoulder at Jase and then back at Cho. “I think that the reason she won’t talk to the police is because she wants to protect you.”

“From what?” Cho asked.

“It’s the timing again. I’ll bet she thinks you robbed the store and that’s how you got the money.”

Cho thought for a minute. “Perhaps.”

“You’ll have to go down to the police station and explain everything,” Jase said. A flash of movement on Madison Avenue caught his attention—two men getting out of a taxi. He recognized his operatives, Tony and Carter. If they were arriving, Adam Ware wouldn’t be far behind.

When he turned back, Cho was clearing his desk. On a hunch, he took the photograph from Adam’s desk and showed it to Cho. “Do you know anything about this photo?”

“Yes. That’s a design Adam created for a nightclub. It’s also the place where Michelle went to pay back her loan. I insisted on going with her to deliver the hundred thousand.”

THE WINDOW in the hallway outside the workroom led to a fire escape and offered a view of the alleyway. Through it Jase watched Cho exit through the back door and head towards 51st Street. He’d already phoned Stanton to let him know that the man was on his way, and he’d given him a brief summary of Cho’s story.

In return, Stanton had explained what he’d learned about the Golden Spider club and its owner from his friend in Vice. Then Jase had checked with Tony and Carter, who were still hanging out at the front of the store, and confirmed that Adam was due to arrive any minute.He relayed that information to Maddie and added, “Tony and Carter are here on the pretext of getting some shots of Adam in the workroom before the store officially opens. It’s as good a time as any for us to discover if your cousin has the new security code. Or if he’s going to have to cool his heels until Arnold Bartlett arrives and opens for business.”

The moment Cho disappeared from view, Maddie turned to study Jase. “There’s something in your eyes—a sort of excitement. Have you fitted the puzzle together yet?”

“No. But I’m closer than before.”

“Because Adam designed that logo for the Golden Spider?”

“Yes. It proves he had a connection with the club’s owner, John Kessler, and/or that club. Stanton says that Kessler has been under investigation for some time. The problem is that they can’t get any hard evidence on him. Socially and politically, he’s very well-connected here in the city. The Golden Spider is the place to be seen in New York right now. All the big movers and shakers hang out there. But the man is suspected of using the club as a front for a very sophisticated loan-sharking business. Kessler finds his client base there. So far he’s kept his distance from the shadier side of the business. The two victims who have gone to the police have gone missing. But those two clients seem to have been selected very carefully. They were young, they worked in the city at upwardly mobile jobs and they had access to money.”

“Michelle didn’t.”

“She worked here. We know that it wouldn’t have been hard for her to get her hands on one hundred thousand dollars’ worth of jewels. That’s eventually what she might have been pressured to do. They may even have thought that’s what she’d done when she was able to produce the money. And if encouraging their young clients to steal money from their workplaces is their modus operandi, that may be why the police haven’t been able to get any hard evidence. The victims aren’t going to admit to being thieves.”

“Michelle can give them hard evidence. She didn’t steal anything.”

“True.” Jase watched a cab pull up at the mouth of the alleyway on 50th Street. “Stanton will encourage her to do just that if Cho’s story checks out. In the meantime, Stanton is going to put both Michelle and Cho in protective custody for now.”

“And what about Adam? He has a connection to the Golden Spider club too. The thing is why would he need to steal jewels or borrow money from a loan shark? Jordan told me he has a trust fund, and his father runs a bank.”

“Good question. But he fits the profile of the victims Kessler targets,” Jase pointed out. “Everything we just said about Michelle is true about Adam in spades. He might even be the “friend” who told her about Kessler’s operation. Plus, for the last two years he’s seen Jordan as a threat to his future here at Eva Ware Designs. With Eva gone, he probably assumed he’d step into her shoes. Then he learns that you’re a designer also. Last but not least, with you or Jordan out of the way, Adam stands to inherit a lot more money because of the terms of your mother’s will. He’s under pressure from his mother, he has a temper and a rebellious streak. You can bet that Stanton will question him very closely about his connection to Kessler.”

A man emerged from the taxi and started down the alleyway. Gripping Maddie’s shoulders, Jase turned her so that she could see.

“Adam,” she murmured.

Together they watched as he let himself easily into the back door of the store.

“That answers one question. He has the new code. So he could stage another robbery at any time.”

“Or he could just pilfer a few pieces here and there, hoping that no one would notice.”

He turned to her, smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Good theory. Have I told you that I like the way your mind works?”

Then Jase opened the window and climbed out onto the fire escape. There was an ominous creaking sound.

“What are you doing?” Maddie asked.

“Getting out of here.”

“We’re going down the fire escape?”

Jase held out a hand. “C’mon. While two of my best operatives are keeping Adam occupied, we’re going to go on a little field trip to your cousin’s apartment.”

“Why?”

“We may find another puzzle piece there. And I want you out of the store. I took a chance even bringing you here. This is where that hit woman picked you up yesterday.”

As she placed her hand in Jase’s and threw her leg over the sill, Maddie made the mistake of glancing down. Her head spun once, and the moment she shifted her full weight onto the grated flooring, it creaked again.

“Don’t look down.”

“Already did.”

“Think you can make it?”

She met his eyes. “You haven’t lost me yet.”

“No. And I don’t intend to.” Leaning down, he kissed the tip of her nose. “I’ll go first.” He shut the window. “We have to move fast. Do you think you can run in those shoes?”

“Sure.”

Jase turned and led the way down a flight of steps.

Keeping her eyes fastened on Jase’s back, Maddie took a firm grip on the hand railing and followed one tense step at a time. Rattles and groans joined the creaks. She was surprised that no one had run into the alleyway to find out what all the noise was about. When Jase reached the first landing, the whole fire escape swayed.