Trusting Danger (Danger, #2)(67)
Not anymore.
Once Alex had taken her back to her condo, Claire excused herself and headed for her bedroom, debating whether to call Grayson.
Did he arrange this deal for Chris? And if he did, why?
She pulled out her phone but as she stared at it, her resolve to call Grayson faded. If he’d wanted to speak to her, he would have. She had to let it—and him—go.
I can’t keep thinking about him. I need to focus on school.
Pushing aside her misery, she put away her phone and pulled out one of her textbooks. She might not intend to take the bar, but she did intend to graduate. Keeping her options open was the smart choice.
It was time to get back to work.
Chapter Fifty-Five
Grayson followed Eli inside the DC Jail. Both men had been taken aback when a representative from the SEC had called to say Gabe Rogers was requesting a meeting.
Gabe, his attorney, and representatives from the SEC were already seated in the visitation room when Grayson and Eli stepped inside. They took seats on the same side of the long table as the men from the SEC.
An unwanted wave of hostility rolled through Grayson as he gazed at Gabe, who was wearing an ill-fitting orange jumpsuit.
What had attracted Claire to Gabe? Was it his looks? His status? His money?
Grayson put the brakes on that line of thinking as Edward Patel, a middle-aged man with the SEC, made introductions.
Patel addressed Gabe’s attorney. “Why don’t you tell us why we’re here?”
“I’d be happy to.” The attorney folded his hands on the table. “My client is here to give a statement about the abduction attempt on Claire Parker.”
“What about his involvement in the Ponzi scheme?” Patel asked. “Will he speak on that as well?”
“We won’t be addressing the allegation that Mr. Rogers ran a Ponzi scheme. We’re only here to give the statement my client has prepared.” He turned toward Gabe. “Go ahead.”
Gabe’s gaze briefly met Grayson’s before it moved down the line of Feds seated opposite him at the table. “I dated Claire for a year and intended to marry her. I love her and would never do anything to hurt her. I had nothing to do with what happened to her.” He continued his prepared speech, repeatedly denying involvement in the kidnapping attempt.
“We’ve identified the other men involved,” Eli said. “Jack Lawson and Roy King. They stabbed one of our team members, killing him.”
Gabe’s eyes widened. “I’ve never heard of either of those men.”
Eli sat forward in his seat. “You hired them.”
“No! I didn’t!”
Gabe’s attorney placed a warning hand on his client’s wrist and addressed the agents. “Mr. Rogers is telling you the truth.”
“The truth?” Patel scowled at him. “We’ll have to agree to disagree on that. Is there anything else?”
Gabe visibly deflated. “No.”
“Actually, there is,” Gabe’s attorney said, and he spent the next few minutes encouraging the agents to drop the kidnapping charges against his client.
“What a bust,” one of the SEC’s reps muttered after Gabe and his attorney had left the room.
“Did you notice he never objected to the allegation that he ran the Ponzi scheme?” Grayson asked. “He only bristled when we accused him of the kidnapping.”
Eli nodded. “I noticed that too.”
“How’s Miss Parker doing?” Patel asked Eli. “Your team’s still guarding her, correct?”
“We are.” Eli’s gaze flicked to Grayson as he said, “She’s doing fine.”
Grayson looked down at the table. He’d done his best not to think about Claire these past several days, but it was nearly impossible. Raising his head, he met a curious gaze from Eli. His boss had the same look on his face that he’d had the prior week.
“I don’t understand, Gray. You don’t want to protect Claire anymore?”
“No. It should be Alex or another member of the team guarding her.”
“What happened? Are the two of you still having trouble getting along?”
“Yeah.”
When Grayson hadn’t elaborated, the boss had let things go. But it seemed Eli hadn’t dismissed the topic completely.
They’d left the meeting room and were alone inside the elevator when Eli asked, “It must be tough seeing her ex.”
“What?”
“Come on, Gray. No more denying it.”
Grayson reached out to press the button for the ground floor but didn’t answer.
“The task force doesn’t need any bad publicity. You realize that, right?”
“Yeah.” Grayson rubbed a hand against the back of his neck, knowing his boss was right. It was time to take ownership of what he’d done. “Something happened between Claire and me, but it won’t happen again.”
“You broke it off?”
“Last week. The day I told you I couldn’t guard her anymore.”
Eli gave him a satisfied nod. “It’s not like I’m trying to tell you who to date. It’s just that family is so high-profile, we can’t afford any more mistakes.”