Jace and his mam followed him before Jace paused to look around. “Where’s Shannon?” As soon as he spotted me he motioned me over. “Can you stay?”
There was a pleading in his eyes that I couldn’t say no to, so I bobbed my head. “Of course.”
A minute later, I was sitting in a small room at the back of the gallery with Jace, his parents, his three bandmates, as well as Roan and his father, Jack. I sat on a narrow sofa next to Jace, our thighs pressed together. It was crowded to say the least,and I didn’t necessarily feel like I needed to be here, but then I recalled Jace saying how it didn’t make sense that this woman even knew he’d be at the gallery tonight. That meant the catfish knew personal details about Jace’s day to day life that weren’t explicitly public knowledge. That could also mean they knew things about our daughter. Everyone knew that Jace had a child, but we’d both always agreed to keep Zara’s name and image private.
Fear and worry curdled my stomach. Whatever was going on, I refused to let it affect Zara. I would protect her at all costs.
“So,” Jay began, looking around the room as he seemed to formulate how he wanted to convey the information he’d gathered. “As we’ve already deduced, someone on the internet is pretending to be you, Jace, and they’ve lured at least one woman into a scam relationship.”
Beside me, Jace exhaled a long, stressed out breath, and I found myself touching his hand again, hoping to soothe him. He glanced at me in appreciation, and I looked away, unable to take the intensity in his gaze. I was only trying to comfort him, but he seemed to be reading a lot more into the simple touch.
As I was glancing away, my gaze connected with Kami’s. She was frowning at me. I always wondered if she had a thing for Jace and that was why she’d never liked me. But we’d been divorced for years now, and she still hadn’t made a move, so maybe not. Then again, I didn’t know the details of what went on between the band members anymore.
Startled by her hostile expression, I tried to remove my hand from Jace’s, but before I could manage it, he turned his hand facing upward, his fingers wrapping around mine and keeping it firmly in place.
“The woman who came here tonight, Alison, was a member of one of your online fan groups. About a year ago, she was contacted by another member of the group who secretlyconfessed to being you. She said this person claimed to enjoy being in the group ‘incognito’ to see what fans were saying about them and swore her to secrecy. She was obviously thrilled and on board to keep the secret. Then over the course of the next few months, they proceeded to groom her into a romantic relationship.”
“Did this person ever ask for money?” I queried.
Jay shook his head. “Not so far. And it appears they haven’t requested any explicit pictures or videos yet either. They did, however, send money to her when her cat was sick. Just a couple hundred to pay for the vet’s bills. It’s a typical tactic that scammers use to earn trust. They send money first, so then when they ask for it later on, you’re more likely to send it.” He paused, glancing around the room. “That’s all we know for now, but Alison has agreed to send us the screenshots of her conversations with the catfish. There’s over a year’s worth, so there could be something there for us to figure out either who they are or how to stop them.”
Jay looked to me then. “Shannon, this is sort of your area. Do you know if there’s any way to track a person from an online account or email?”
I used my free hand to scratch at my jaw. “Sure, there are ways, but it all depends on how tech savvy the catfish is and how well they’ve covered their tracks. It’s not my particular area of expertise, but I could probably find out what country they’re living in, even their IP address, and of course, their physical address, but again, it all depends on how smartly they’ve been operating.”
“Right, well, we’ll see what the conversations turn up first. Lille has gone with Alison back to her hotel so that they can transfer the chats from her laptop. For now, we just have to sit tight and wait.” Jay looked to Roan. “I’m sorry this has taken focus away from your show, son. You should get back out there.”
“Okay,” Roan replied, then glanced at Jace. “I’m so sorry this has happened to you.”
“Thanks, man,” Jace dipped his head, and everyone started to leave.
I realised he still had my hand clutched in his super tight grip so I gently asked, “Are you okay?”
Jace’s eyes came to mine, so full of dismay, but at last, he nodded. “I’ll survive. It’s the price of fame, right?”
“No one should have to go through this, famous or not. And that poor woman has been fooled for over a year, thinking she was talking to her favourite musician. It’s just awful.”
I was vaguely aware of a door shutting, and then it was just me, Jace, and his parents. Everyone else had gone back out to the gallery.
“There’s actually more,” Jay said, and I could tell by the expressions on both Jace and Matilda’s faces that, just like me, they hadn’t been expecting him to say that. Then again, Jace’s father always had something up his sleeve.
“Why all the cloak and dagger?” Jace demanded, and his father arched an eyebrow.
“Because right now, everyone’s a suspect. Well, except for the four of us in this room. Plus, Jack and Lille, but I didn’t think my brother and his wife would appreciate me implicating their sons.”
“Bloody hell, Dad,” Jace exclaimed. “Elias and Roan aren’t the catfish. They’re my cousins. We’ve known each other our entire lives. They wouldn’t do something like this.”
“Right, you would think that, but stranger things have turned out to be true, and if we’re going to solve this, we need to be smart.”
“Isn’t it more likely to be some random fan who’s obsessed with Jace?” I suggested. “I mean, there’s plenty of them out there.”
“True,” Jay allowed. “But I spoke with Alison alone, and she revealed some things the catfish told her that were cause for concern. Things that aren’t public knowledge and would only be known by someone close to Jace.”
“Well, then, why aren’t I a suspect, too?” I challenged.
Jay’s gaze softened on me. “Darlin’, it’s not you.”
“How can you be so sure?”
