He would ensure that. It was what a father was supposed to do, after all.
Paul would not fail as a father again.
“There are her friends Lucy, Emery, and Ruthie,” Rachel said, motioning to a small crowd nearby. “With their families.”
Paul studied the people closely. He’d made a point of knowing exactly who was in his daughter’s class at Brynlock, and who she chose to associate with.
Lucy Lorcan was associated with the head of Lucas Technologies in some way, the wealthiest man in St. Louis. In the state; probably the region. Paul believed she was the man’s goddaughter or niece or something.
Paul had been trying for years to get contracts with Lucas Tech, the leading developer of law enforcement technology around the world. A connection to Lucas Tech would had made him a very wealthy man. He didn’t need that now. At least not right away.
He was being paid very well for his work with the FBI.
The Brockman girl’s parents weren’t as wealthy, by any means, but they were both very prestigious names within the federal law enforcement community. Between the two of them, they had a list of impressive connections. And, he suspected, investments. The neighborhood where they lived wasn’t exactly cheap.
Paul’s family attended the same church as the Brockmans. Their daughter was near in age to his own. He’d chosen it deliberately. He found the couple to be a bit reserved—the wife far more than the husband—but intelligent, cultured. Very well-connected.
There were several business associates who attended services at the same church as well. Paul had planned his family’s life very, very carefully. Down to the smallest detail.
He had needed those connections with Lucas Tech. He had needed the in with the director of PAVAD. His IT contract with the FBI was currently only temporary. He had wanted to make that a permanent part of his business plan.
Soon. His contract expired at the end of January. That was fast approaching. His contract would be renewed when the time came. Paul had been reassured he had nothing to worry about.
Everything he needed would be taken care of for him. All he had to do was funnel some information from PAVAD to a nifty little email on the dark net, a few times a week.
He’d already received two payments from the men involved.
Payments that had kept Ava and Olivia in Brynlock.
In exchange, Paul would do a few little favors when he could. The money was just too good not to want more. It was going to turn everything around for his family. Erase the mistakes he’d made with his investments over the last several years. Fix everything. Make right everything he had ruined.
They would have far more than Paul ever had.
He was going to see to that. All he had to do was uphold his part of the bargain, without completely screwing things up for them all.
But Rachel…she was more willful and intractable than he ever would have expected when he had met her years ago. He had yet to determine how to address that. He needed to. Before she screwed everything up, too.
One reason he’d been singled out for this new project had been because of the connections Rachel had made at Brynlock. Paul hadn’t forgotten that.
All he had to do was find a way to get the information they wanted without Rachel realizing what he was doing. Paul always had enjoyed challenges.
“There’s Emery!” Olivia said excitedly. She pointed to a little strawberry-blond girl in the distance. Paul studied the child quickly. She was not someone he recognized.
He looked at Rachel for clarification. His wife knew he had to give approval. She just rolled her pretty blue eyes at him. He hated when she looked at him like that, like he was being ridiculous. She knew that. “She’s a classroom helper in Olivia’s class once a week and is on the same basketball team. Star player, two or three years older than Li—Olivia. Emery Jones. Her father works for the FBI. Rather high up on the food chain, too. Max Jones.”
Paul thought for a moment. He’d heard the name before. He vaguely recalled meeting a man by that name. A tall, brown-haired man a good eighty pounds heavier than Paul, and six inches taller, stood near the girl. He looked familiar.
From the Complex Crimes Unit, Paul thought. “Dr. Maddox Jones?”
“He goes by Max. He’s been at the school a few times.”
The CCU. One of the departments his consulting company couldn’t go near at the PAVAD building. Paul was going to change that.
“And her mother?” The little girl stood next to a classically beautiful woman with auburn hair and a perfect, slim feminine figure. She blew Rachel’s sleek blond soccer-mom presentation out of the water.
She looked exactly like the type of woman he would expect to find at Brynlock Academy. Sleek, expensive, sophisticated. Graceful and beautiful.
He was certain he knew the girl’s father. He looked like an ex-jock—big, muscled, shaggy, and brainless. Like half the men he’d seen in the FBI building.
But the woman…if he had seen her before, he would remember.
He would most certainly remember her.
“That’s not her mom,” Olivia said. “That’s her aunt, I think. She calls her Jack, not Mommy.”
“Jack? Odd name for a woman.” There was nothing masculine about the woman he was looking at. Far from it.
“Her name is Jaclyn Jones. She’s a friend of mine,” Rachel said quietly. He shot her a look. She knew he wanted to know everyone she considered a friend. Who Rachel interacted with was just as important as those who the children did. He wouldn’t have her associating with just anyone. “A new one. We’ve met at the school a few times. She’s a connection of the family.”
“Please, Daddy? Can I go play now?” Olivia begged, shooting him the smile that was identical to her mother’s.
Paul studied his daughters quickly. Olivia was presentable. Her clothing was still neat, her face was washed, and her blond hair had been groomed
