CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Nausea roiled in Juliet’s stomach. What was Heath Morel doing here? Although he hadn’t been there the night the Avilo brothers had attacked her, everyone knew he and the Avilos not only worked together, but were close friends.
Suddenly, the sweetheart emails made sense to Juliet. Before he died, Marco Avilo could’ve provided details about the attack to Morel, or Robert could have, before he’d gone to prison.
Evan led her to one side of the room as concerned staff members began cleaning up the mess she had made when she’d dropped her plate. All talking had stopped at Juliet’s social faux pas, but now was slowly resuming its previous volume. Eyes that had been glued to her and Evan were now starting to look away, having found nothing of interest to hold their stares.
Except for those of Cady and his son. Juliet glanced their way again and found them still gazing at her. At first she thought it was because of their duty as hosts—was Juliet okay? Had something happened to her to make her disrupt the party? But then she saw Cady look over at Heath Morel, a small smile on his face.
Juliet turned her back to them, so she was facing Evan. Had Cady planned this? Had he invited Morel, to get some sort of rise out of her?
“Hey,” Evan said and bent down so they were eye to eye. “Are you okay?”
She nodded tightly, unable to say anything right at this second.
“We knew there would be people from our past here,” he continued. “You’re still okay. We can do this.”
Juliet took a couple long breaths. Evan was right; Heath Morel was here, but nothing had changed. She could still do this. The emails didn’t have anything to do with the drone override codes.
“You’re right,” she whispered. “I’m okay. I can do this.”
Evan drew her in for a hug. “Good girl. No more throwing plates, okay?”
“Got it.” Juliet turned so she was standing beside him and facing everyone in the room again. “I think Cady might have invited Heath Morel on purpose, just to see my reaction. He was looking at Morel with a weird smile a minute ago.”
“Wouldn’t surprise me at all. That’s the kind of sick stuff Cady is known for. Even more reason not to let it get to you.”
“And if Morel is the one sending me the emails? It has to be him.”
Evan pulled her closer and kissed the side of her forehead. “Then we’re one step closer to catching him, aren’t we?”
Evan was exactly right. That was how Juliet needed to look at it. She didn’t need to hide from Morel; she could use this time to draw him out.
“Thank you.” The words were inadequate to describe how grateful Juliet felt toward Evan. He was helping her remember how to stand and fight, rather than run and hide. She couldn’t have done it by herself.
“For what?”
“For being here. For knowing what to say. For just being you.”
Evan winked at her. “No problem.”
The two of them began making their way around the room, talking to different people. Most of it was just chitchat. No one wanted to give up very much information. After all, they were competitors vying for the same prize. But Juliet made mental notes of every person there, absorbing as much detail as possible to report later. She knew Evan was doing the same.
They avoided Morel, and Juliet noticed he seemed to be avoiding them also. He didn’t have anything to do with her attack—he’d been in a different part of the country at the time—but that didn’t mean he hadn’t known about the plan. And it made complete sense that he was the one sending her the emails.
Juliet wasn’t sure if she wanted to confront the bastard or just stay away from him altogether. But putting a face to the emails somehow made her feel better. Confronting the demon she did know rather than fighting the ones she made up in her head.
And speaking of demons, Juliet always felt as if someone was watching her. It didn’t seem to be Morel. He was studiously trying not to look at her, as far as she could tell. Juliet never could pinpoint who it might be, but she seemed to always feel eyes on her. Maybe her imagination was running away with her. It wouldn’t be the first time.
And maybe it was that she was in a room full of criminals and everyone was eyeing everybody else, while trying not to make it obvious.
Vince Cady certainly seemed to enjoy playing lord of the manor, talking to everyone, holding court. Everyone was doing what they could to get in his favor, in case that would help when the bidding began.
Juliet knew the auction probably wouldn’t be until tonight, possibly tomorrow morning. Until then they had to play nice. Evan certainly seemed to have no problem with that. Bob Sinclair was charming with everyone. Of course, that wasn’t a stretch for Evan; almost everyone liked him. But his Bob Sinclair persona hid his fierce intelligence. People tended to underestimate him, and he used it to his advantage.
Lisa Sinclair was more silent and snooty. Juliet didn’t mind not talking. It gave her a chance to study people. And not have them touch her. Although she was doing better in general, she still did not like people casually touching her. She slid a little closer to Evan.
After an appropriate time to mingle, Cady held up his hand to get everyone’s attention from where he stood in the doorway. “Thank you all for coming. I know we have important business to attend to. And we will soon, I promise.
“I would like to give you a tour of my house, and show you where you will be staying,” he continued. He looked at his son, who was grinning slightly and nodding. “But Christopher had a much better idea, and perfect for security reasons.”
Cady waited until he had everyone’s undivided attention.
