“Do you want me to keep recording?”
“Yes.” Nicole paused. “Okay, talk to ya later.” Nicole pretended to turn off her phone, but she left it on and set it just inside her suit jacket pocket. “Who are you and what do you want?”
Tara tightened her fingers on Nicole’s upper arm. “I want to know about that phone call.”
“Why?”
“Were you talking about Carl Remington?”
“Yes,” Nicole answered warily.
“And he was propositioning your friend?”
Nicole nodded. “Why do you want to know?”
“Because I’m his mis – I mean his current girlfriend.”
“Oh,” Nicole sighed and frowned. “You’re the one he’s trying to blame for my car accident.”
Gasping, Tara released Nicole’s arm. The woman’s expression changed slightly. No longer was she aiming her anger toward Nicole, but now the woman looked more frustrated... like an animal caught in a trap, trying to get out.
“I... I... I can’t believe he’s doing this to me. I did everything he asked me to do.” Tara’s eyes watered slightly, but she blinked away the liquid. “Oh, I swear, if he tries to pin this on me, I’ll...”
“Then we need to stop him,” Nicole quickly said. “We can’t let him treat women this way. He thinks he can just flash a few dollars in our faces and think we’ll fall at his feet?”
Tara shrugged one shoulder. “It was more like tenthousanddollars.”
Nicole choked on her quick intake of breath. “Really? That much money?”
Tara nodded.
“But... why did he want to cause my car accident? Is it because he wants my grandfather’s company?”
Tara’s expression tightened. “I shouldn’t say anything. If he found out...”
Nicole rolled her eyes. “Oh, so you’re going to let him get away with treating you like a doormat? Are you really going to let him send you to jail forhismistake?”
The model’s breathing quickened, and her nostrils flared. “I... I just want to feel appreciated.”
“Just like all women do. But it’s obvious that Mr. Remington doesn’t know how to treat women. All he knows how to do is use them.”
Tara’s bottom lip quivered. “I really didn’t want to do it, but he promised to treat me better than Mick and take me to Rome. Carl told me that Mick doesn’t care about me and he never will.”
“So, Carl paid you ten thousand dollars to...” Nicole swallowed hard. “To run my car off the road?”
Tara nodded. “He told me that Mick would be with you. Carl made me believe that by running your car off the road, that I would be punishing Mick for leaving me.”
Nicole inhaled a shaky breath, even though inside her head she was cheering that she’d gotten a confession. “Tara, we can’t let Carl Remington get away with this. Do you know if he’s planning something else?”
Hesitantly, Tara nodded.
“What is he planning?”
“He... He...” Her voice shook.
Nicole touched the other woman’s arm. “Please, tell me. We must stop him from treating people like they are commodities.”
“He’s planted a bug in your company.”
