Ashley glanced at Matthew. She looked uncertain about what to say next, and he couldn’t blame her. If Jasmine knew about the article, she could stop it from being published.
Jasmine pulled a folder from her bag and handed it to Ashley. “This is the file my private investigator gave me. I believe you know Bonnie Adams and Harry Kingston?”
“They’re my friends,” Ashley said. She opened the folder and looked through the information. “Your private investigator was thorough.”
“I don’t pay him to be anything else. I wanted to know who you have been associating with, who you have spoken to. Congressman Welsh was also investigated. We uncovered some disturbing information about his involvement in The Reaching High Foundation.”
Ashley handed Matthew the folder. He flicked through the documents and raised his eyebrows when he came to the photos. In one of them, Ashley was walking into a building with a blond-haired man. The stranger had one arm around her waist and a suitcase in the other.
He replaced the photo and looked at the next one. “Is this Bonnie?”
Ashley frowned at the photo. “It is. I don’t know where it was taken.”
Jasmine studied the photo. “That’s in the foyer of my office building. Ms. Adams was on her way to see someone on The Reaching High board. Am I correct in assuming that I need to be worried about Gareth Welsh’s involvement in my charities?”
Ashley watched Sean look through the folder. “Some of the documents your investigator uncovered are identical to the ones I found.” She paused and looked at Matthew.
He gave a small nod. Jasmine’s private investigator had uncovered a lot of information about Congressman Welsh. She should have been worried about his involvement in the Foundation.
Ashley took a deep breath. “We think Congressman Welsh was using money from The Reaching High Foundation to pay for his failed mayoral campaign.”
Jasmine didn’t seem surprised. “That’s a serious allegation. What proof do you have?”
“A search warrant was used to look at his financial activities over the last twelve months. The police report should be available in the next twenty-four hours. We found other information, but the files are in another room. It will only take me a couple of minutes to get them.”
Matthew stood. “I’ll come with you.”
Ashley didn’t say anything until they were upstairs. “What am I going to do?” she whispered. “What if Jasmine and Congressman Welsh are in a relationship? Jasmine might not want to see the information we’ve found.”
“Or she could tell him about what you’ve found.”
Ashley paced backward and forward. “If she were going to confront him, she would have done it before now. She has more to lose than he does.”
“What about the information you found on Jasmine? How involved has she been in Congressman Welsh’s life?”
“Until the mayoral election was over, he wasn’t seen with anyone apart from his wife. After that, he spent a lot of time at the same events Jasmine attended. It could have been a coincidence, but I don’t think so.” Ashley picked up two folders. “It will only make everything worse if Jasmine sees the information I collected about her.”
Matthew took the folder she handed him. “We’ll leave this here. Is the other folder focused on Congressman Welsh?”
“It is. Do you think Jasmine will read between the lines and realize that we thought she was involved?”
He wouldn’t have expected anything less from the wealthy socialite. “Probably. We need to know what she intends to do with the information her private investigator found.”
“I don’t think she’ll be going to the police.”
Matthew held out his hand. “There’s only one way to find out. Are you ready to face the lion’s den?”
Ashley squared her shoulders and placed her hand in his. “As ready as I’ll ever be. Let’s go.”
***
Two hours later, Jasmine left the ranch. While Matthew cooked dinner, Ashley and Sean had finished a few chores around the ranch.
Sean had come inside ten minutes ago. Ashley had stayed in the barn. She had a soft spot for Chan, Nathan’s horse, and Matthew couldn’t blame her. As well as having an easy-going personality, he was the most intelligent horse they’d ever owned.
He opened the oven door, checked dinner, then headed out of the house toward the barn.
Chan and Sandy were in their stalls, content to munch on their oats. There was no sign of Ashley. The tack room was empty, and so were the rest of the stalls.
