Authors: Lily Harper Hart
“Just think about Mandy and her boots and I’m sure you’ll rebound,” Jake said, trudging down the steps. “Me, on the other hand, well I’m going to have to put up with an endless series of questions about who has the better body.”
James couldn’t hide his grin. “Happy Valentine’s Day, man.”
“The same to you.”
“This is kind of fun,” Grady announced the next morning, leaning back in James’ desk chair and facing the open laptop. “It’s like I’m on television and you’re all watching me because I’m the best show on the air.”
James scowled from his spot at the Harrison kitchen table, Grady’s smile annoying even though he was several states away. When his brother texted that he had information, James opted to set up a Skype feed so everyone could question him at the same time. He was starting to rethink that decision.
“Get your feet off my desk,” James barked.
“Come home and make me,” Grady shot back.
“I see the whole family gets along swimmingly,” Mary said, pursing her lips to keep from laughing. “I’m guessing you’re the one who gets under your siblings’ skin most often, aren’t you?”
“It’s a gift,” Grady agreed, nodding.
“Has anyone ever told you that your hair is too long and you look like a girl?” Ben asked, causing Grady to frown.
“I’ll have you know women everywhere love my hair,” Grady said. “Not one of them thinks I’m a girl.”
“That’s because they haven’t seen you cry whenever you get a split end,” Ally shot back. “How is Emma?”
“She’s fine,” Grady replied. “She’s as big as a house and Finn keeps following her around with a mop in case her water breaks.”
“Don’t tell her she’s fat,” Mandy ordered. “You know she has a complex about it.”
“Besides, she’s not fat,” Ally added. “She’s having a baby. You know, if men carried babies the word ‘fat’ would’ve been banned years ago.”
“Oh, stuff it, hens,” Grady muttered. “I haven’t said anything of the sort to her. I’ve barely seen her. She’s been cleaning the apartment from top to bottom for days. Finn says she’s nesting. I have no idea what that means, but she’s about out of things to clean so I’m considering sending her to my house.”
“Nice,” James said. “I can tell putting you in charge hasn’t gone to your head or anything.”
Grady stuck his tongue out.
“Let’s get down to business,” James instructed. “What have you found out?”
“Quite a bit actually,” Grady said, straightening. “I finally got somewhere on my background check on Mark Nixon. It seems his real name is Mark Foley. He was born in Nebraska, so his story about being nostalgic about farms could be true. His father was a farmer, although it looks like Mark didn’t stick around long to embrace the family business once he hit eighteen.
“Mark bounced around in a variety of different jobs throughout the years,” he continued. “He’s worked as a salesman in most of them – including cars, farm equipment, insurance, and even women’s lingerie for a high-level distributor.”
“That’s probably why he’s such a pervert,” Ally muttered.
“That’s a lot of jobs,” James said. “It’s fairly impressive that he’s somehow managed to leverage jobs like that into a fortune.”
“It’s even more impressive when you know that he never graduated from college,” Grady said.
“How is that possible?” Jake asked.
“It beats me,” Grady said. “I honestly have no idea how this guy managed to snow people into believing he’s somebody when he’s almost literally nobody. The change in his fortune occurred when he married Nadine Rochester, a New York socialite who is the sole heir to her father’s billion-dollar empire.”
“Well, I guess that explains why Mark married – and stayed married – to Nadine,” James said. “Although that doesn’t explain why she stayed with him given his wandering eye. She made it sound to Jake that she was only staying because of Mark’s money. If she’s the one holding the purse strings, why would she possibly hang around with Mark?”
“That’s a good question,” Grady said. “What’s most interesting about all of this is that Mark Foley didn’t change his name until he ran afoul of the law in North Dakota ten years ago.”
“I’m listening,” James prodded.
“Okay, this is a convoluted story, so bear with me,” Grady said.
“You’re such a woman sometimes,” Ally groused. “It’s like you need to make sure all eyes are on you before you can talk.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment coming from you,” Grady shot back. “So, from what I can ascertain, Mark Foley met Nadine Rochester when she was twenty years old. She was a socialite before it was really a thing. She was kind of the Paris Hilton of her day, without the totally awesome sex tape, of course.”
Mandy scowled. “Grady!”
“You’re so testy,” Grady said. “I would think all the sex you and James had on Valentine’s Day would’ve put you in a better mood.”
“I was in a great mood until you decided to put your spin on … well … everything,” Mandy countered.
James patted her hand. “He’s just playing to his audience,” he said. “I have a feeling he’s been bored out of his gourd without us around to entertain him all week.”
“That shows how much you know,” Grady said. “Sophie has kept me very entertained.”
“I can’t believe she hasn’t smothered you in your sleep yet,” Ally charged.
“She tried, but the pillows are breathable and organic,” Grady deadpanned. “Can I finish my story?”
“Yes, please,” Ben grumbled. “If I have to listen to you guys argue for much longer I’m going to drive to Detroit to smack you around myself – even if you do look like a girl.”
“Stop saying I look like a girl,” Grady ordered, although he glanced back down at the file in front of him. “Where was I?”
“Nadine Nixon was the Paris Hilton of her day,” Jake supplied.
“Oh, right. Anyway, Nadine was on the fast track to nowhere with a martini in her hand when she crossed paths with Mark Foley,” Grady said. “She was twenty and he was forty-one.”
“Nice,” James muttered.
“They started dating and it made some of the local gossip rags in upstate New York,” Grady explained. “There was a big wedding announcement, and Mark is referred to as a real estate developer in the story. As far as I can tell, though, at that point in his life he’d never bought or sold any property.”
“Was it a con?” Jake asked.
“I have no idea,” Grady replied. “You’re going to have to find that out on your own. I only know what’s in the public records. After they got married, Mark did start doing some real estate deals with his wife’s money. Most of the initial ones were dinky. He started with some houses that he flipped and turned a nice profit. That was back in the days of the real estate boom, though, so he got in at the right time.
“His biggest deal came when he bought a condemned apartment complex in New York and fixed it up,” he continued. “He turned the units into condos and because it was an area of New York that went from rundown to fabulous overnight he made a killing when he sold the units. He made more than two million by the time he was done.”
“That’s a nice profit for a guy who had no idea what he was doing,” James mused. “That probably made him look smart in certain circles.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. You look smart in certain circles, too,” Grady replied, causing James to scowl. “After that he became a legitimate wheeler and dealer. He spent the better part of the next ten years buying and selling property all over the country. He moved into depressed areas right before they turned around and amassed a good thirty million on his own.”
“That’s still not enough money to buy more than one farm out here,” Ben said.
“What happened ten years ago to make Foley change his name?” James asked.
“He was in North Dakota of all places trying to buy – you guessed it – four farms,” Grady answered. “They happened to be located on a tract of land the government was eyeing for a new solar-powered wind factory. I have no idea how Nixon knew what was going to happen there, but he seemed to be ahead of the pack and he secured three of the four farms in question before the news broke.”
“So the lone holdout had massive bargaining power over Nixon,” James said. “He could afford to raise the price on his farm, make a killing, and then go and buy another farm with a huge financial cushion should he hit hard times.”
“That’s what this guy was bucking for, but it never happened,” Grady replied. “The man’s name was Logan Garvey and he showed up dead on his property two days after his last meeting with Foley. He was shot in the back of the head.”
Ben sucked in a breath. “Just like Charlie.”
“I’ve checked with the police department in North Dakota and your local department already,” Grady said. “The ballistics isn’t a match. Nixon would have to be stupid to use the same gun, though, so that doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”
“It’s still a pattern,” James said. “Was he questioned in Garvey’s death?”
“He was,” Grady replied. “They went so far as to name him a person of interest in Garvey’s murder. They never got enough evidence to prosecute, though. I guess Garvey went two days without being found and a big storm rolled through so there was absolutely no trace evidence to gather.”
“What happened after that?” Jake asked. “Did Foley get the farm?”
“Garvey’s widow refused to sell to Foley because she was convinced he had something to do with her husband’s death,” Grady said. “She sold to a competitor for big bucks. That competitor had deeper pockets and simply outlasted Foley. He ended up selling the property to the competitor, although he did make ten million in profit.”
“How much did the competitor make through government contracts?” James asked.
“More than a hundred million.”
Ben swore under his breath. “Holy crickets.”
“Yeah, I know,” Grady said. “The whole thing was big news in real estate circles. Outside of those circles no one probably heard the story. Foley’s name was officially mud, though, so he went underground and re-launched himself as Mark Nixon a year later.”
“Well, that explains the name change,” James said. “He’s obviously trying to do the same thing with the farms out here, although I’m still trying to find out what he thinks they’re eyeing this corner of the world for.”
“Did you call Steven?”
James nodded.
“Who is Steven?” Ben asked.
“He’s a former military buddy of mine,” James replied. “He’s entrenched in Washington now. I emailed him last night. He’s going to try and find out exactly what is being proposed for this location.”
“There’s something else,” Grady said, drawing everyone’s attention back to him. “Maverick hacked a few medical files because … well … we were bored and I’ve always wanted to say I hacked files. Sure, I watched Maverick do it, but it was still exhilarating.”
“Oh, baby brother has missed me,” James teased.
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Grady countered. “This weather sucks and I can’t do anything outside. It’s nothing more.”
“What did you find?”
“Nadine has been through about four rehabs and she’s in constant therapy,” Grady answered. “I think she has a few mental problems, which might explain why she’s staying with this guy even though she doesn’t have to.”
“She seems more sad than crazy,” James said. “Still, that’s an interesting tidbit. Anything else?”
“The Kansas police are looking at Nixon as a suspect in Charlie Dawkins’ murder, but they don’t have very much evidence – just like the Garvey murder,” Grady replied. “They plan on sticking with it, though.”
“What about Jessica?” Ally asked. “Did you find anything out on her?”
“Only some cursory stuff,” Grady said. “She’s twenty-five and I can’t find any ties to Nixon, although that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. We’re still digging on that. She quit her job in Nevada – where she worked as a dealer at one of the casinos – about seven months ago and promptly moved to Kansas, where she took up employment as secretary at an insurance office.”
“That has to be a huge cut in income,” Mandy said.
“You’re smart for a blonde, kid,” Grady said. “She’s making thirty thousand at the insurance office and she was making sixty thousand before tips in Nevada. She was at one of the ritzier establishments.”
“Has Nixon ever been to Vegas?” James asked.
“He goes quite regularly,” Grady answered. “I can’t specifically pinpoint him at the place Jessica worked, though.”
“It’s too much of a coincidence for them not to know each other,” James said, rubbing his neck. “Okay. Keep on it and stay in touch.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Jake and I are going to have a talk with Mark Nixon,” James replied. “I think it’s time. We might scare him off with our questions, but we’re at a point where we definitely need some answers.”
“Well, I have a suggestion for you if you’re interested.”
James waited.
“There’s a day spa about an hour away from Lakin,” Grady said. “I know you know about it because you checked on your own to make sure your hens had something to do while you and Jake toiled away.”
“If you don’t stop referring to us as chickens I’m going to make you cluck until you cry when I get home,” Ally warned.
“Promises, promises,” Grady retorted. “Anyway, we set up a trap and trace on Nadine’s credit cards so we could monitor her during our search. She’s booked an entire day at the spa.”
James arched an eyebrow and glanced at Mandy. “That
is
interesting,” he said. “I don’t know, wife, do you and my sister want to go to the spa and see if you can browbeat Nadine into talking?”