Disillusioned (Swept Away, #2)(53)

“I guess, if that’s what you’ve found.”

“But guess what? About two years ago, he started renting a house in Jersey City. A house that costs way more than his apartment in Washington Heights.”

“So?” I took a deep breath. “How is that relevant?”

“At his apartment in Washington Heights, he has full cable—I’m talking HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, sports channels, everything.”

“Okay.”

“And at the house in Jersey, he has no cable, not even basic.”

“So?”

“So this seems like a guy who likes TV. Why would he have every channel known to man in one place and nothing in the other?”

“Oh yeah, I guess that doesn’t make sense.”

“It only makes sense if he’s not spending much time in the new place—if he’s not home to watch TV, why pay for cable, right?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Which then makes us ask the question . . .”

“Who does live there?” Jakob was frowning at me and I knew he wanted an update. “So Blake found out that Steve is renting two apartments. One in Washington Heights and one in Jersey.”

“Jersey?” Jakob frowned. “No, he definitely lives in Washington Heights. I know this because my father kept trying to get him to move downtown, but he always refused. He said Washington Heights is his home and he would never leave.”

“Did you hear that, Blake?”

“Not well—why don’t you put me on speaker.”

“Good idea.” I took the phone away from my ear and pressed the speaker button.

“Still here, sweet pea,” Blake answered with a laugh. I saw Jakob frowning as he looked at the phone and then at me.

“Blake, be serious.”

“I am.” His voice changed. “You know I’m here for you and I will do something really bad to anyone that tries to harm you. I’m like a ninja in the night. You won’t hear me coming, but I’ll be there.”

“Is he threatening me?” Jakob looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

“I guess so.” I gave him a small smile. “Blake, enough joking around now.”

“I mean it.”

“Blake, this is Bianca’s boyfriend, Jakob. I know you know about our past, but I am committed to Bianca and finding the truth. I have never hurt her and never will. You have my word on that.”

“That’s good to hear.” Blake sounded less sure of himself and I reached over and gave Jakob a kiss on the cheek.

“You’re both very sweet guys, but enough.” I laughed lightly. “What else did you find out, Blake?”

“Steve has over a million dollars in cash split among three savings accounts. He has no living family that I can see. Can you corroborate that, Jakob?”

“I don’t know about the cash.” Jakob frowned. “But I can corroborate that he has no family. Both of his parents died when he was a kid. That’s kind of why he gravitated to my father so much. My dad trusted him like a son. That’s why David and I trusted him, that’s why I had him come to the island. I thought his allegiance was to me and my family.”

“Maybe it is,” Blake cut in. “But maybe his allegiance is to David and not to you.”

“I don’t think that’s it,” I said. “David seemed legitimately perplexed to find out that Steve had gone rogue and disappeared. I don’t think he was behind it.”

“Neither do I,” Jakob added. “At first when we were on the island, I did wonder if it was my brother, but I’ve thought about it from every angle and it wouldn’t make sense. Not at all. There has to be a third party involved.”

“So was he close with anyone else besides my dad and the Bradleys?” I asked stiffly. “And do we know why we think he was close with my dad?”

“He worked with your dad in the new product development department. He was almost like an apprentice.”

“How do you know this?” I asked softly.

“The less you know about how I got the information the better. Let’s just say that there was some conflict at a company picnic one year.”

“What?” Jakob spoke up. “When was this? I don’t remember any conflict with Steve.”

“He trashed a table and threw some punch bowls on the ground after he got into an argument with the company attorney, Larry Renee,” Blake said in a rush. “Someone wanted to press charges, but ultimately they were dismissed.”

“Who wanted to press charges?” Jakob and I said at the same time.

“I don’t know,” Blake said, annoyed. “The police report didn’t list the name of who wanted to file the charge, it just said ‘complainant.’ I think the name might have been whitened out and written over. But get this—” He paused for dramatic effect.

“What?” I said hurriedly, my heart racing at this news.

“Steve wanted to file a countercomplaint. But he wanted to file murder charges.”

“Murder charges?” My jaw dropped as I stared into Jakob’s intense blue eyes. “Who did he say was murdered?” I swallowed hard as I waited for the news. Was this my first outside confirmation that my mother had been murdered?