Into the Fury (BOSS, Inc. #1)(82)

Ethan cursed, and Val felt a sharp stab of disappointment.

He took a deep breath and set her away, dragged the phone out of his pocket and checked the screen. “It’s Sadie.” He pressed the phone against his ear. “You got something?” He listened, flicked Val a glance. “Hold on while I put you on speaker.”

Surprise filtered through her. He was including her, understanding that she was part of this, respecting what she might be able to contribute. She had come to respect him, too.

The notion unsettled her. She was getting sucked in, her feelings for Ethan growing deeper every day. She couldn’t afford to fall in love with him. Ethan couldn’t afford to fall for her. Not with the problems he was already facing with his ex and his little girl. They’d wind up like Megan and Dirk, both of them getting hurt.

Val took a deep breath. Forcing aside the unwelcome thought, she moved closer to the phone.





“Go ahead,” Ethan said. “What have you got for us?”

“Oh, just all kinds of juicy little tidbits. Starting with Myra Stern. Turns out Jason’s wife is Peter Latham’s twin sister.”

Ethan whistled.

Sadie chuckled. “So you probably see that’s the reason Jason got the job at David Klein. He was hired as president four years ago, after Latham took a major shareholder position in the company.”

“You’re right, that is juicy.”

“At the time Stern took over, the company was close to bankruptcy. David Klein himself was getting older, mostly interested in doing design work. It was Jason who turned the business around. He now owns a sizable number of shares, and the president’s job pays a bundle.”

“Interesting. I did some digging this morning myself. Klein is well past seventy. A pillar of the community. From what I could tell, he and Stern don’t seem to have much of a personal relationship.”

“They don’t socialize, leastwise I didn’t see them linked in the papers or in social media.”

Val spoke into the phone. “Do you know how Jason turned the company around, Sadie? What changes he made that pulled Klein out of the red and put them back in the black?”

“I surely do. Stern introduced a line of less-expensive jewelry.” Ethan remembered the stuff Val had been modeling that morning.

“He was also the guy who came up with the idea of partnering with La Belle,” Sadie said, “using glamorous lingerie models to show off Klein’s million-dollar necklaces. Same way other designers use actresses to advertise their jewelry on the red carpet at the Academy Awards.”

“Sounds like a smart guy,” Ethan said.

Val made a disgusted sound in her throat. “More likely Peter Latham is the guy with the brains.”

Ethan eyed her closely. Val knew Stern better than he did. He didn’t want to think of the dinner she’d had in Stern’s suite, but she very well could be right.

“I can’t tell you who thought of it,” Sadie said, “but you get the idea. Having hot babes like Valentine wearing David Klein jewelry gets women flocking to the stores.”

“Val’s taken Delilah’s place as Klein’s spokesperson,” Ethan said carefully, interested in what Sadie might have to say about that.

When the phone went silent, he cast a worried glance in Val’s direction, his gut telling him this wasn’t good.

“What is it?” he pressed.

“Nothing I can put my finger on. Just that Julian Latham is also a Klein shareholder. One who makes some very interesting trips out of the country.”

“Mexico?” he guessed.

“South America.”

“Colombia,” Ethan said. “Latham’s gotta be involved in the drug trade.”

“Could be drugs, but Julian isn’t going to Colombia. Every three months, he takes a first-class American Airlines flight direct to Caracas, Venezuela. Simón Bolivar International Airport. He makes a return trip home three, sometimes four days later.”

“Sounds like drugs to me.”

“According to his tax records, Julian runs Latham Property Management, a company his father owns. They manage apartments and strip malls owned by Latham Enterprises.”

“If it’s legit, why’s the son going to Caracas?”

“Good question. Whatever he’s doing, he isn’t doing it in the city. He takes a suite at the Gran Melia the night he arrives, checks out the next morning, then checks back in a few days later, the night before he heads back to Miami. No idea where he goes in between.”

Ethan’s glance returned to Val. He didn’t like her working for people who might be involved in an illegal drug operation.

He turned back to the open phone line. “The question becomes, is Julian’s little enterprise personal? Or does it have something to do with his interest in David Klein?”

“And if it’s connected to Klein, does it have something to do with Delilah Larsen’s murder? That’s the real question, hotshot. Guess you’d better figure it out.”

He sure as hell better. “One more thing: Any idea how Latham made his money?”

“He was a hedge fund manager. They all seem to walk away rich, don’t they?”

“Seems like. Thanks, Sadie.”

“I’ll keep digging. Go to work,” Sadie said and ended the call.