Heat stained her cheeks. “Hi. You didn’t have to come all this way.”
“Yes, I did. I tried calling you, but I couldn’t get through.”
“The FBI doesn’t want me to use the phone Harry gave me. I bought a new one today.” She took a step toward him. “Why did you come to New York?”
“I’m worried about you.”
Ashley’s eyes softened. “What about the ranch?”
“Nathan’s employed another ranch hand while I’m gone. I read your article about Jasmine. It was good.”
“Maybe too good.”
“What do you mean?”
“Jasmine may not be the person we think she is.” She waved him into her room. “Come in. We’re planning tomorrow’s schedule.”
Bonnie and Harry were sitting in her room with Chinese takeout in their hands. His stomach rumbled when he saw the food.
Ashley smiled and passed him a bowl. “Help yourself.”
Harry stood and held out his hand. “I’m Harry Kingston and this is Bonnie Adams.”
“Hi. I’m Matthew.” He shook Harry’s hand and smiled at Bonnie. He’d seen photos of them in the file that Jasmine had brought to the ranch. The man with his arm around Ashley was no longer a mystery. It was Harry.
He would have recognized Bonnie anywhere. With her bright red hair and dimples, she looked exactly like the photo he’d seen.
Ashley was watching him. “Bonnie said you want to help us.”
“Now that the stories about Gareth Welsh and Jasmine have been published, every two-bit reporter will be after a new angle on the story. I don’t know much about being a reporter, but I’d make a useful bodyguard.”
“Anyone wanting to write another story will need a lot more luck than we’ve had,” Bonnie said. “No one’s talking except a woman who said Jasmine was having an affair with Congressman Welsh.”
Matthew nearly dropped his bowl. “If she was having an affair with him, he must have said something about the money.”
“That’s what we think,” Harry said before he ate a pork ball.
Bonnie nodded. “But we need proof. We also heard that Stephanie Welsh, the congressman’s wife, knew about the affair.”
“How are you going to prove that?” Matthew asked.
“We don’t know.” Ashley sat beside Bonnie.
“Do you need proof?”
Bonnie turned to Ashley.
“Yes we do,” Ashley said firmly. “I won’t write a story that isn’t accurate.”
Harry reached for a glass of juice. “What about Jasmine’s story? She twisted the truth to suit her own agenda.”
“And I fell for it.” Ashley sounded disappointed.
Matthew sat on the last empty chair in the room. “If it’s any consolation, I believed her as well.”
Ashley looked at her dinner. “I don’t want to make the same mistake again.”
A heavy silence fell over the room.
