Page 58 of Stranded with the Billionaire
Epilogue
Sterling and Jake had returned to New York. They had both made as many calls as they could to try to find anything that might help Michael’s situation with little success. Sterling was surprised to hear from Drew, asking her to attend a meeting with the Ramesly family. Jake received a similar call directly afterward from his brother Dillon.
“Perhaps they found something,” Jake said hopefully.
“I hope so,” Sterling didn’t have much faith. Her sources had been surprisingly empty.
They cancelled their plans for dinner and arrived at Max’s condo in time for the meeting. Max greeted them cordially at the door, unsurprised that they had arrived together. In fact, he looked inordinately pleased.
“Elle and Piaget have the kids at Noah’s place. Kelly is currently taking care of Ann and the babies,” Max invited them in. “The rest of us are trying to get an update of what everyone has found out at the moment.”
Noah had already taken a seat, talking to Dillon and Everett. He recognized Drew Colborne and Bethany Searson but there was another man with them. Jake greeted his brothers, introducing Sterling. Everett and Dillon were surprised but kept their opinions to themselves, maintaining a polite demeanor towards her.
“You’re the tabloid reporter who splashed my mother’s personal business all over the papers,” the stranger said in disgust. “Who asked you to come?”
“I did,” Drew spoke up as he helped Bethany take off her coat. “Everyone, this is my brother Molson.”
“I’m sorry about that,” Sterling decided an apology was the best way to smooth things over since she was trying to help the family.
“You should be,” Molson looked at Sterling like she was a bug he wanted to step on. He pressed a finger to his temple. “Margo ain’t all there.”
“I didn’t know,” Sterling stated softly. It was going to take a long time for her to gain anyone’s trust in the Ramesly family after her previous career. She gave Jake’s hand a warning squeeze to let her handle this when he took her hand in his. His brother Everett raised an eyebrow at the contact. “I apologize.”
“That’s enough,” Jake warned Molson.
“What? You all cozy with her after all that trash she wrote about you in her paper?” Molson challenged Jake with a touch of disbelief.
“We talked and we worked it out,” Jake said clearly with a tone of voice that brooked no argument.
“Leave her alone Molson,” Drew remonstrated his brother as he seated Bethany. “We need all the help we can get to prove Michael’s innocence and David’s guilt.”
“Proof?” Molson laughed bitterly. “I got proof. I recorded the man himself bragging about how he put Michael in jail. You got Bethany remembering Pop cleaning drugs off the floor of a boat with her daddy. He tried to kill her cuz he’s a sociopath. Then there’s the paper trail from all that drug money he run through his own company. Don’t all this count for something?”
“Nowhere on the recording does David identify himself,” Drew calmly explained. “This makes the origin of the voice dubious and you’re not exactly character witness material Molson. While we could prove that Ted had a hand in attempting to kill Bethany, we couldn’t pin anything on David especially now that the pharmacy tech who filled the prescriptions has turned up dead. Bethany’s repressive memories are admissible to court but won’t hold up under questioning. Any jury will discount them. Just because money has been laundered through the company doesn’t mean that David did it. The finger could be pointed at a number of individuals, including Michael.”
“That’s bull!” Molson exploded, pacing the room.
“I didn’t say I agreed with it,” Drew growled back. “I’m just saying what the FBI has said to discount everything. Look, I don’t like this any more than you do. If we were handling the case, I’d bring all of this up and we might be able to charge David. Individually, it’s inconclusive. Together, it’s all very damaging. However, when I spoke to Agent Lawe, he said none of it was pertinent to their case. Unless we can get something to stick, Lawe won’t look at it.”
“What we need is solid proof,” Everett inserted into the conversation.
“Short of a full confession, I don’t see how that’s going to happen,” Drew rubbed his face, exhausted. He’d been putting in extra hours, trying to come up with any sort of solution while Agent Lawe did his best to blow Drew off. “We all know David is smug and conceited, but I don’t think he’s going to let me record him boasting about his victory.”
“I have a different angle,” Sterling hesitated to bring it up. “I don’t have proof yet. It’s only a theory.”
“What is it?” Max asked hopefully.
“A theory,” Molson was sarcastic. “Lotta good that will do.”
“Let her speak,” Jake gave Molson a hard look, putting a hand on Sterling’s shoulder.
“I have someone looking into FBI Agent Lawe’s financials.”
“What?” Max was surprised. “You think Dad’s bribing him?”
“Is that even legal? Looking into someone’s financials?” Bethany asked. “Can you do that?”
“No, it’s not legal,” Drew answered with a frown. “Which means anything you find is inadmissible in court.”
