Mismatch - By Nana Malone Page 0,83
Well, she's no dummy. Vince has been chasing him for years. He says he's been linked to a sting of rich widows who he's pretty much swindled out of their fortunes. None of them want to press charges because they're in high society. Vince thinks he's the one who tried to run down Jessica.”
Samson looked horrified. “Shit, I'm sorry. Obviously, he's going to arrest him, right?”
“Not exactly. We don’t have enough to hold him on that. No witnesses, and Jessica didn’t get a good look at the guy driving the car.”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah, well, I get the impression you're going to be saying that a lot.”
“Huh?” Samson frowned
“There’s more bad news. So Fenton or rather Ellis was the one who pushed Jessica into coming to see your show at the club that night. He wanted her to be your manager.”
“Oh, shit.”
“I doubt he had any idea how convoluted everything would get. But my guess is he wanted to lure me, you, one of us in with the lure of legitimacy.”
“I think you missed a step. Go back. What does this have to do with Mike?”
“Step-dad-to-be is Mike. They're the same person.”
“No, that’s impossible.”
“Not impossible. Prints don't lie.”
“I barely even knew that guy. He was just being nice to a fucked up kid.”
“I doubt it. Once Vince brings him in for questioning, I’d bet money he was behind the forgeries the first time around.”
“None of those pieces are gelling yet, bro.”
“Look, back when you were kids, you said his daughter and you were in many of the same advanced placement programs together, right? Did she have your talent then?”
Sam frowned and shook his head. “No. She was really good, but she couldn't forge those kinds of pieces. Her hands weren’t steady enough. Maybe with time she—” He paused, light dawning in his eyes. “You’re thinking she's the one forging art pieces now?”
“It's a theory. Vince is going to pick her up.”
“She’s in fucking Los Angeles?”
Eli winced. “Yeah, that's the other thing. Several of the cities that we've tried getting your career going in, have also had a similar string of thefts and forgeries. Miami, DC, and SF. She's used several aliases, but they seem to always be in the same city at the same time.”
Samson rubbed his temples. “What's her name?”
“Sam, I don’t think—”
“What's her fucking name, Elijah?”
Eli rocked back on his heels and shoved his hands in his pockets, ready for the blow back. “Jocelyn Mills.”
Sam just stood there and stared. Then he did the inexplicable. He started laughing. And didn’t stop. Clutching his sides, he held on to the counter. “You mean to tell me that my sponsor Jocelyn is Emma?”
“Uh, yeah. What's so funny?”
“I thought you said you went through every single piece of that file of mine. If you had, you'd have seen pictures of Emma. She was a brunette. Two, two-fifty easy. Her nose was bigger. For the love of God, Eli, you’ve seen her. You’re saying she lost over a hundred pounds and changed her appearance. C’mon, man, Jocelyn’s a dog walker, not a master forger.”
No, it didn’t sound like the same girl, but it was. They had her prints. “I'm sorry, Sam. But it's true. She’s running this scam with her father.”
“You’re for reals on this?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re telling me this chick has been fucking with me my whole life? Why?”
“I don't know why, but I'll find out.”
Chapter 26
“Mom, why do you look nervous?”
Jessica’s mother shuffled from foot to foot, readjusting her hair. “Oh, you know. I want to make sure I'm making the right decision.”
Jessica sighed. “It’s like you told me, Mom. Love is a gamble. You never know if you're going to get it right, but when you do, it's amazing. Sometimes it’s painful. And sometimes you run, but you can always believe in it.”
“I said that?”
“Something like it, with my own added Jessica flair.”
“I can’t believe you came all the way to Vegas to watch me renew my vows to Karl, honey.”
“That’s 'cause I came here to run. Mom, I told you before that I wanted to support you in whatever you wanted to do. I love you and want you to be happy. That’s what I’ve always wanted for you.”
Her mother rolled her eyes. “I’ve just been happy so many times, you see.”
Jessica barked out a laugh. “Well, Mom, sometimes you have to kiss a few frogs. Right? But I'm glad you and Karl are making it work again. He's always loved you.”
“He's so different from your father.”
“Which is why I think it works.”
“Jessica,