Page 85 of Romeo

“You said you hand-delivered it,” I clarify.“Which implies you handed it directly to the person who handles such things.”

“Yes.Well, kind of.My contact was in a meeting, so I had to drop it with his secretary.”

“Did you find anything when you asked her about it?”

He pales slightly.

Frustration ebbs away at my patience.“You didn’t ask, did you?”

“No.But only because I received this.”He reaches back into his briefcase and withdraws a photograph.It was taken of him from a distance with a red ‘X’ drawn over his face.

“A threat.”

“Yes.I stopped looking into it after that.I didn’t think him getting some extra money ahead of time was worth my life or the lives of my family.”

“It was clearly worth my grandfather’s,” Jules says.Her tone is steady, but there’s no mistaking the venom lacing it.

His eyes widen.“You don’t think this had anything to do with his death, do you?I adored your grandfather, Jules.He was a great actor and a fantastic writer.”

“It did,” I reply, confident in our understanding that him looking into this contract is what started everything else.“Do you have any idea where this came from?”I hold up the photograph.

“A courier hand-delivered it.I did manage to track him down and ask who sent it, but he said it was completely anonymous.”

Jules studies the photograph with the same scrutiny I watched her scour the fake contract with.“Did my grandfather say anything to you about what he thought happened with the contracts?Did he have suspicions?”

He shakes his head.“He called me that one time then dodged every phone call after.I assumed he was angry—rightfully so.”

“What about the publisher?”I ask.“Any word from them?”

“After I backed off, I received a phone call about how he was trying to buy his way out of the contract.They weren’t happy and insisted I get a handle on things.I tried, but like I said, he stopped returning my phone calls.I even showed up at the house, but Odie sent me away and said he’d handle things.”

“Seems Odie handled a lot he had no business dealing with.My guess is this was taken by a hired PI.”She tosses the photograph back down on the table.

“Someone sent a private investigator after me?”

“Odie,” I say.

“Odie?As in your stepbrother?”He turns to Jules.“Why would he threaten me?”

“Because he’s the one who swapped the contracts,” Jules says.“He told us yesterday.”

“Why would he swap the contracts?Wasn’t he supposed to behelpingyour grandfather?Those terms were outrageous.No sane person would have signed it.”

“Why does anyone do anything?Money.”She stands.“If you think of anything else, you know where to find us.”

“Jules.I’m so sorry.If I’d have suspected it hadanythingto do with his death?—”

“It might not have anything to do with it,” she replies, though her tone betrays that she doesn’t believe that.Not even for a second.“Thank you for your time, Mr.Flores.If you think of anything else, please let me know.”

“I will.You should know that, upon his death, I sent over a certified letter to try and get you off the hook for the money.But?—”

“They want it back.”Jules nods.“I figured as much.Unfortunately, I don’t have it and have no idea where it is.Something else to figure out, I suppose.”

He nods.“I’m sorry about your grandfather, Jules.He was a good man.”

“The best.Thanks for meeting with us.”Jules turns and leaves the café, so I follow after her.She doesn’t speak again until we’re in the truck and pulling out of the parking lot.“I wonder if Odie sent one of the PIs after him when he found out that James was trying to find out how the contracts got switched.A way to strong-arm the agent into not looking any further.We need to talk to the publisher.”

“I’ll send Beckett after them.They’ll likely have a lot of red tape, and she’ll be able to get answers faster than we can.”

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