Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 68743 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68743 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
“You can’t remove the camera,” Zach said. Coffee in hand, he strode over and sat down on Nikki’s other side. “I know this is scary as fuck, but what if the person who planted the camera plans to come back to get it?”
“How would they get in?” Harrison asked, speaking up for the first time.
“Same way they did the first time.” Zach put a hand on her knee, and despite Asher knowing it was a gesture of comfort, he wanted to smack his brother’s hand off her body. Irrational maybe but true. “Have you had anyone in lately to do work? Any delivery people who came into your bedroom?” Zach was in work mode.
She shook her head. “No. Definitely not.”
“How about maintenance? Do they have a key?” Zach asked, removing his hand from her leg as he began to pace around the room, taking on the frenetic energy he got when he was working on something that intrigued him.
“No,” Derek said. “My parents were adamant if she was going to live alone, nobody could have access.”
“And what the senator wants, the senator gets,” Nikki muttered.
Zach ran a hand through his hair. “Okay, then. Does someone have your key? You know, like a friend or a neighbor in case of emergencies?”
Asher schooled his features, but he knew that question had to have hit a nerve. He and Nikki had talked about her lack of close friends and how much it bothered her. Asher squeezed her shoulder in support. So far, Derek hadn’t seemed to notice their connection.
“Only Derek has a key.” She glanced at the screen and forced a smile for her brother’s sake.
“Hmm.” Zach paused by the floor-to-ceiling bookshelf, deep in thought.
“Oh, wait!” Nikki exclaimed and all eyes turned her way. “I lost my keys at a fashion shoot this past winter.”
“Where?” Zach asked.
She named the studio. “In Lower Manhattan. I remember being panicked because I thought they were gone for good and I’d have to have the locks changed, but they turned up in my bag. It was weird because I’d emptied the whole thing out earlier.”
Asher tapped her leg and she glanced up at him. “Could someone have taken them and put them back?” he asked though he knew the answer. He also had a gut feeling about who’d done it.
“I suppose. It’s crazy busy behind the scenes of a show. Things are left everywhere,” she murmured. “But who would…” She narrowed her gaze. “You have an idea, don’t you?”
He nodded, and from the distraught look on her face, so did she.
“Meg?” she asked, sounding horrified.
Asher turned to meet Derek’s gaze and lifted an eyebrow.
After the phone call Asher had overheard between the women and how Nikki had cut the other model out of her life? That was exactly what he thought.
Derek sighed. “We don’t know for sure, and we can’t just accuse someone without proof. But I’ll get the locks changed.”
“Again, don’t.” Zach drummed his fingers on the bookshelf. “I want to see if someone comes back for the camera.”
“How? It’s a doorman building. How could someone get upstairs even with the keys?” Harrison asked.
Zach walked over to Harrison, and gave him a smack on the head. “How are we even related?” he muttered. “I mean don’t you actor types watch basic cop shows on TV?”
“Hey!” Harrison stood and elbowed his brother in the ribs.
Asher clapped his hands. Loudly. “Boys! Behave. And focus.”
Zach chuckled. “Right. Well, getting back to business, where there’s a will, there’s a way,” he said of how someone had entered the building. “Doormen take bathroom breaks. People join a group and walk in along with them. It happens.”
Harrison shrugged. “Excuse me for not being a super-spy,” he muttered.
“Okay. I’m going to need the full name of your friend along with any other suspicious people in your life,” Zach said to Nikki. “That includes men you’ve flirted with, dated, or slept with,” he matter-of-factly stated.
Nikki’s eyes opened wide and she rose to her feet. “Umm… Derek can get you started with that information,” she said, voice quivering. “I’ll fill in the… umm… more personal stuff later. I’m going to get a drink from the kitchen,” she said and rushed from the room.
“Is she okay?” Derek asked, sounding worried.
Asher curled his hands into fists, wanting, needing to go after her. But he had to play it cool in front of her brother, so he just nodded. “I think the camera thing upset her. She’ll be fine.”
“Yeah. I know she’s in good hands with you,” Derek said to Asher, who did his best not to wince.
“Text me Zach’s cell and I’ll send the information ASAP.” Derek had already begun typing on his computer.
Pulling out his phone, Asher did as his friend asked, eager to end this conversation and go find Nikki.
“Why don’t I go check on her?” Zach suggested.