Loving Grace (12 page)

She drew in a bracing breath and let it out,
including both men in her gaze as she kicked into her business
mode. “I’ll need lists of his personal expenses, everything we can
trace.” She took her legal pad out, aware Crumm was observing,
testing her, even as Noel was coldly sitting and staring at her.
She had heard of the lawyer, everyone had, and she knew his genius
lay in his ability to read people.

She ran her pen down her list, pulled off her
glasses, chewed the end and glanced at Crumm. “Do we have access to
the account books from the Gallery?”

“Yes.”

“What about Ms. Zeller’s personal
accounts?”

“I’m negotiating that with her lawyer.”

Slipping her glasses back on, Grace sat back,
absently tapping her pen on the pad. “Given that she wrote the
checks for much of Mr. Hawthorn’s expenses, I should think that
evidence is vital to the defense of your client.”

“How do you know what she paid for?”

Grace glanced at Noel and ignored the ice in
his tone. “I made a few phone calls myself. Your car and the
driver, for instance, your clothing, at least what you wore in
public. She’d ordered those and paid for them?”

“Yes.”

Grace glanced away and down at her notes.
“How did you pay for the engagement ring?”

“I sold a lot of art.”

Grace looked at Crumm, aware he too probably
heard the caustic way Noel said that. She kept her mind strictly on
business. “Have they decided which buyers were legitimate and which
bought the art simply for the drugs?”

“Only four crates were found to contain
drugs. Those buyers though were likely planning to resell the art,
considering Mr. Hawthorn’s popularity, and have been arrested.”

“So the rest of the money is legitimate and
he’ll be allowed to—”

“No.” Crumm cut her off. “The set up money
for the Gallery, the original investment was likely drug money. Our
sources believe that Elisa did the same in Paris, that she was
simply waiting for someone like Noel to come along. When the French
authorities got too close, she brought her business to the
states.”

“And Bryce?”

“He knew her in Paris. We haven’t connected
them yet, but we will.”

“Since the other buyers checked out, I fail
to see why, Noel, err, Mr. Hawthorn’s assets will continue to be
frozen to those legitimate transactions.”

“So, you think he is innocent.”

Crumm was staring at her. “Of course,” Grace
dared not look at Noel, but met those bright blue eyes. “I know he
is.”

The lawyer sat back and pursed his lips.

Noel cut in, drawing Grace’s gaze to him. “My
personal expenses are absent one entry, one we can’t
substantiate.”

“Yes?”

He murmured coolly, “I paid my models myself,
Ms. Dean. During two weeks of those drug deals, I cannot confirm my
whereabouts nor prove I was here, painting. You see, my counsel has
been successful in finding every single model to match up the
cashed checks with which I paid them, except one. A woman I did not
pay, because I couldn’t find her.” His glance flickered down over
her torso then back up. “A Ms. Jane Blackstone. The information she
gave me, that her brother was a reporter, it didn’t pan out. We
cannot find a Jane Blackstone.”

Grace stared back at him. “I’ll find
her.”

“Will you?” His smile was cold.

Grace nodded. “Yes. Mr. Hawthorn. I’ll find
her and I’ll get you proof that she was here for those weeks.”

He made a sound between a snort and laugh and
got up, noisily raking his chair on the floor. Grace’s eyes
followed him to the window where he stood looking out.

Beside her, Crumm said, “If you employ your
brother to find this woman, I’m sure Mr. Hawthorn will pay the
expense.”

Grace returned, “That won’t be necessary Mr.
Crumm. I know who she is.”

The old man’s brow raised, his eyes studying
Grace’s face closely.

Grace said, before he could probe, “I’ll need
his receipts and lists of his bills as well as the names of those
buyers. You can fax everything to that address; I’ll work from my
apartment. Give me everything the prosecution lets you have on that
Gallery, and Elisa and Bryce.”

She glanced at Noel whom she knew was
listening, and then back to the lawyer. “I’m to give all appearance
of being unbiased and independent, Mr. Crumm. I pride myself on
being so. Lucky for you and your client, and for me, that the whole
case begins and ends with a money trail. That’s my expertise. It’s
a matter of you establishing his alibi, proving he is the talented
and driven artist that created those paintings for the reasons
artists do, and possibly proving that Elisa and Bryce set him up
from the start.”

She looked at the table a moment. “I’ll not
only prove he did not profit from drug money, but that Bryce and
Elisa did. Because where there are amounts the press has been
quoting, there is a hiding place. If I find Mr. Hawthorn’s account
doesn’t add up to that, you can believe me when I tell you that
Elise’s will.”

“I not only believe you, Ms. Dean, I agree.
The Feds might find a Swiss account or some island hideaway, bought
under an assumed name, before we do. But my goal is not only to
follow that trail and prove they used Noel, but to reestablish his
reputation, and prove to the world what a master he is.”

Noel said without turning around, “To hell
with that, Crumm. Do you think I care anymore what they think of my
art? Do you imagine that buyers will want it, once I am cleared,
for anything, other than this sensation that has come from me being
arrested?” He laughed hollowly and it hurt Grace to hear it. “Just
clear me of these charges and give me the satisfaction of seeing
Elise and Bryce go down. I can live with never knowing. Hell, I
should know that half my work sold because of the drugs.”

“Not half—” Crumm began.

But Noel finished, “I don’t care if I get it
back or if the Feds don’t return the money. I don’t give a shit if
the world never embraces my art.” He paused, laughed cynically. “My
art. That’s the hell of it, a whole two years I lived under some
damned illusion that it was.”

Grace was looking at Crumm who was frowning.
The lawyer shook his head and gave her a glance of disgust that was
clearly for what Bryce and Elisa had done to the man.

Grace swallowed and murmured, “If we get
solid proof, will his case be dropped?’

“Maybe. However, he’ll still be in it,
because he’ll have to testify to what he knows. It was a business
in his name, and his paintings were used.”

Grace nodded.

Noel came back and sat down at the table,
looking between them as he fingered the handle of his coffee mug.
“You trust Ms. Dean,” he said to Crumm. “I’ve put my fate in your
hands, out of necessity, and for a high price. I’m innocent. But
not in the press and not likely on the street or among my peers. To
hell with my reputation. I have no illusions and I expect nothing
from either of you but to do what you’re paid for.”

Grace barely heard the wise lawyer talking to
Noel about the facts he had, about the case, while trying obviously
to break through that bitter shell. He was trying to drive home to
Noel that no matter what his true feelings were; he was in the
spotlight and must watch his demeanor and his comments outside this
room. Grace studied Noel Hawthorn as he listened but lacked that
genuine interest that showed he cared about the world, and what
they thought.

She sighed and rolled the pen in her fingers,
eyeing the taut jaw and dark circles under his eyes, the shadow of
beard. It was so much worse than she’d imagined, and it was quite
devastating to see what all this had done to the man she’d met in
that gallery. The proud, but not smug man, the one who could read a
woman’s soul and who wanted to touch the world with his gift. She
hated Elise, really, she did. Not just for the fact Noel could go
to prison for life, but that she and her lover had taken something
beautiful from this man. They had crushed his spirit, his trust,
his open wonder and seeking soul. They’d taken the light out of
him, and replaced it with a cold darkness, taken that softer side
and turned it hard and bitter. Even if she and Crumm both had
evidence that cleared him. They couldn’t give that back.

When Crumm stopped talking, she told Noel,
“I’ll need legal authority to examine your accounts. I’ll give you
a few days to compile all your lists and gather receipts.”

Crumm said, “We have those ready.” He handed
her a thick folder and a list of businesses, as well as a legal
document, already signed by Noel, giving her free access to
investigate his finances.

“I’ll look this over tonight. I’ll need some
time to make phone calls.” She put them in her briefcase. “Is there
anything else?”

Noel stared at her. “Let me know when you
find Jane Blackstone.”

She felt that dig, but closed her briefcase
and stood. “I will.” She reached over and offered her hand. “Good
luck, Mr. Hawthorn.”

He shook it, that maddening cynical smile
never wavering.

Grace shook hands with Crumm, took his
business card and the name of his assistant.

“Gentlemen.” She smiled thinly and gathered
her things. She turned and walked out, holding her breath until she
went through the door. Once on the landing, she grasped the cool
rail and breathed in several deep breaths. She went down the steps
and to her car on shaky legs. He hadn’t challenged her verbally,
but Noel wasn’t giving her more than an inch of breathing room, and
she knew it.

Chapter Fifteen

“This stuff is pretty damned interesting,”
Seth told Grace as they sat in the living room floor of his
apartment.

Grace was out of work clothing and dressed in
a running suit, and socks. With her hair piled atop her head, she
sifted through the notes. It had been three days of very long hours
and hard work since she’d met with Noel and Crumm in the loft.

Since that time, her brother had gone to see
Crumm. It was legit that Crumm would have sought him out, because
of the connection with Elisa. A connection that made Noel look
pretty damn good, considering Seth’s notes gave Noel an alibi; and
substantiated his own notes, and the models he’d used. In the
morning, Seth was going to meet Noel, and it made Grace a nervous
wreck. She would be there too.

“What’s this?” She pulled out a yellow slip
of paper.

“Oh, Elise bought expensive gifts for her
lover, for Bryce, aside from the salary he took from the Gallery.
They drew an equal amount of pay, but Elise gave herself several
titles, including personal secretary, publicity coordinator, and
hell, just came up with all kinds of reasons to squeeze money out
of the place. Anyway, that’s for Bryce’s car. I have five I turned
over to Crumm today. She liked to spoil her men.”

Eyeing his dry smile Grace murmured, “Not all
of them.”

His blue eyes flickered to her. “Yeah, what a
bitch. Too bad she’s so beautiful.”

Grace threw an envelope at him. “She’s a
woman with an ugly soul. She’s hurt Noel terribly.”

“I didn’t say otherwise. I was trying to
lighten your mood.” He sat back against the sofa and stretched out
his legs, rubbing his hands over his face and blood-shot eyes. “So
what’s the plan about Jane Blackstone?”

“To give Crumm all the evidence. To prove
that Noel is innocent, and to come clean. I can hope by then, the
numbers and your evidence, added to what Crumm and his team has,
will eliminate the need for him to use my photos or reveal the fact
that I was Jane. It could hurt the case, but I had to weigh that
against my helping. It wasn’t an easy decision.”

“Hawthorn didn’t seem to too eager to meet me
in the morning.”

“He could use a friend. A real one.”

“Hey, I’m doing a job.”

She nudged his leg and said in disgust, “Men.
Can’t you relate to what the guy is dealing with? I know you’re
popular with the ladies, but don’t even tell me you’ve never been
screwed over.”

“Sure. It’s why I’m cynical, but it’s the way
the world is. Better that a guy expects it and watches his own
back, than get mixed up with a leach like Bryce and a bitch like
Elisa.”

“Seth.” She shook her head and lay back on
the carpet a moment, staring at the ceiling. He sounded just like
Noel. “Why do people do this to each other?”

“It’s a world of givers and takers.” He got
up to open them a beer, and stared down at her after she’d taken
hers. “Most of us just catch them two-timing or figure out we’re
being used for money, at the least, we’re thinking with our dick
instead of our brain.” He went back to his former seat. “This is
some big stuff, Sis. International. The Feds and French authorities
are working together. If Crumm isn’t the genius we all think he is,
Hawthorn will never see daylight.”

“Don’t even say that.”

He lowered the beer from taking a sip,
casting her a glance. “You’re still hung up on him, even knowing he
can’t see the difference in what you did, and what Elisa did. You
both deceived him. I’m a guy. On the one hand, I’d feel that way
too. But you’re my sister. I know you pretty well. This whole thing
you’ve done to be near him and all, you—”

“I know. Nevertheless, there’s something
bigger than whatever my feelings were, Seth. There’s a man’s life
hanging in the balance here.”

Seth sighed and leaned his head back.” Okay.
You’re old enough to know what you’re doing. Speaking of which,
you’d better crash. We’ve got that early appointment.”

She got up, eyeing the mess on the sofa. “I
swear, you’re a slob.”

He scrapped the clutter off, laughing. “Some
things haven’t changed about you.” He left and came back with
pillow and a blanket. “Night.”

“Night.”

~ * ~

They drove to the loft in her brother’s car,
a brown Buick that blended in anywhere. Grace was nervous. She wore
a green short-sleeved blouse, and a darker skirt in the same color,
and a pair of open toe pumps. Her hair was back in a twist and she
wore her normal black glasses. It was business. They were here to
fill Noel in on their findings per Mr. Crumm’s request, and for
Seth to discuss some private matters concerning Noel and Elise.
Since Crumm was impressed with Seth’s PI work, he felt the defense
team could use him.