At Odds With the Heiress (Las Vegas Nights 1)

“I made a choice between two heart’s desires,” she said, her smile cryptic. “And I’m never going to second-guess myself about it.” With a languid stretch she swung her feet to the floor and stood. “I’m going to grab a shower. Want to join me?”

* * *

After an early lunch in her suite, Logan headed to Wolfe Security, leaving Scarlett to wander downstairs to her office in a happy daze. She sat down behind her desk and stared out over the Las Vegas skyline, hoping no big emergencies came up while she was in this state of bliss because she couldn’t count on her problem-solving abilities.

Her cell phone rang at a little after two o’clock, rousing her out of a pleasant memory of the night before. It was Grady.

“Scarlett, I think you are going to want to come down here and see what I found in Tiberius’s files.”

After the theft of documents in her suite, they’d agreed nothing was to leave the secure-documents facility.

“Can you tell me what it is?”

“I’d rather not. You will want to see it for yourself.”

Disturbed by Grady’s caginess, Scarlett grabbed her car keys and headed for the door. “I’m going to MyVault Storage,” she told Sandy as she left. “I’ll be back by four for the senior staff meeting.”

Through most of the half-hour drive she wondered what Grady might have found. The fact that he’d been reluctant to share the information over the phone had been odd. What, was he thinking that someone could be listening in? For an instant all she could see was the man in the ski mask. How easy it would have been to plant listening devices in her suite while she was unconscious. Almost as soon as the thought occurred, she brushed it away. Logan’s paranoia was beginning to rub off on her.

She used her key card and entered the facility. The security guard in the lobby nodded in recognition as she signed in. Cameras watched her from three directions. The security had seemed a little much when she’d first visited the place, but right now she was glad she’d listened to her gut.

Halfway down a long corridor, she stopped in front of a door marked 23. Again she used her key card to gain access. Grady spun around as she entered. She noted his pale complexion and startled gaze and decided he needed to spend a little less time here.

“Have you

eaten lunch?” She held up a bag of Chinese food and a six-pack of Diet Mountain Dew, his favorite.

“No. I was going to go grab something before I found this.” He nudged a file toward her and accepted the bag of takeout.

What he showed her was an old photo of a group of teenagers. One of them looked familiar, but she couldn’t place why.

“This is a photo of someone named George Barnes and his buddies.” Grady turned the photo over and showed her the names jotted down on the back. “There’s an old police report from 1969 that mentions George Barnes as well as a few other guys in this photo in connection with some neighborhood burglaries, but nothing was ever solid enough to arrest any of them.”

“So Barnes was a bad kid.” Despite her confusion, Scarlett felt a jolt of excitement at the old documents and what they meant to Grady.

“In another file, I found this newspaper clipping about an accidental drowning during a storm. A local boy by the name of George Barnes had been killed. An eighteen-year-old kid from California had tried to save him. A wealthy, orphaned kid by the name of Preston Rhodes.”

“Preston Rhodes?” Scarlett looked from the article to the photo. “As in Tiberius’s brother-in-law, the current CEO of Stone Properties? That explains why Tiberius had collected information on George Barnes. But what does it mean?”

“The article says Preston was traveling cross-country on his way to attend college on the East Coast. Thought he’d go out and do a little hiking.”

Despite the weird sensation crawling up her spine, Scarlett couldn’t discern anything in either the article or the photo that had prompted Grady’s call. “I’m not sure I understand what’s so important about this information.”

“Look more closely at George Barnes.” Grady was buzzing with excitement. “Does he remind you of anyone?”

“No. Yes. I’m not really sure.”

“He looks like JT Stone.”

“What?” Scarlett looked closer and the pieces slipped into place. “You’re right. What are you thinking, that this George Barnes guy and the Stone family are related somehow?”

“No.” Grady grew serious. “I’m thinking that Barnes and Preston Rhodes are the same guy.”

“How is that possible?” Then a door in her mind opened and a hundred detective-show plots raced through her brain. “You think George Barnes stole Preston Rhodes’s identity?”

“Why not? Barnes’s file paints a picture of a kid with no future. Mom’s a hooker. Dad’s probably one of her clients. He’d been in and out of the foster care system. Spent some time in juvy. Three of his buddies in the photo are in prison. Then he meets Preston Rhodes, a kid his own age who has money and no family, and who’s moving clear across the country to go to college. Who would know if George Barnes put his wallet in the dead kid’s pocket and assumed Preston’s identity?”

“And when Tiberius found out...” Scarlett stopped breathing as she absorbed the implication. “You think that’s why he was killed.”