Chapter Thirteen
The rest of the tour went well as Trey saw it. Everyone was polite to a fault and answered any questions Ally put to them with short, honest answers. Some even approached her, offering their opinions on the site, the working conditions, and their recent experiences. She listened to each one and took notes on her phone, refusing to dismiss any comments—even the ones out of left field.
They respected her. She threw around terms he wasn’t familiar with, complimented quality work when she saw it, and it was plain to him she knew much more about construction than Trey’d ever learn in a lifetime.
By the time they got back to the car, they were covered in a fine layer of dust and dirt, her black suit now more of a dark gray. But there was a lightness in her step and color in her cheeks, as if they’d been on a walk through the forest instead of picking their way through a construction site.
It suited her.
It was well into the afternoon by the time they got back to the hotel.
Ally flopped onto the couch as soon as Trey opened the door, and she let out an exhausted sigh as she kicked off her heels. “Much rather have my construction boots on. But they don’t go with this outfit.”
Trey chuckled. “Might have come in handy in kicking that idiot manager’s ass.”
“You did a pretty good job without them.” She smiled back, and the connection between them tightened a bit more.
Before Trey could say anything else, the door flew open and Edgar walked in, breathless as he held up his phone.
His look said it all.
“What’s wrong?” Ally asked, getting to her feet.
“The accountants called a few minutes ago. There was a withdrawal on Vincent’s company credit card, an advance.” His forehead furrowed. “A rather substantial one.”
Trey’s phone vibrated in his pocket as Ally stepped forward, her eyes wide. “So, he’s alive. Thank God.”
He yanked the phone out, reading the text message springing up on his screen. “I’ve got Jessie here. Says she’s tracked him to Reno.” He looked at her. “I’d say there’s a damned good chance.”
She clapped her hands with a shout of happiness and threw her arms around him for a tight hug before spinning to Edgar and doing the same.
Edgar looked over her shoulder, catching Trey’s eye.
Vincent might be alive, but he wasn’t here, safe and sound.
Right now, that made all the difference in the world.
“Are there any more details?” Ally asked. “Any idea if he’s okay, if he’s being forced to take the money out?”
Trey scanned the message again. “She doesn’t go into much detail. Says she’s emailed you a full report. She’s on the road, and her cell is cutting in and out. Sent me a text as backup.”
Ally went to the table and powered up her laptop. “If he’s taken an advance on his credit card, either he’s alive, or someone’s got the card and his access number.” She looked at Edgar. “I guess it could be someone who stole his wallet, too.” Her voice wavered.
“That doesn’t ring true—if the withdrawal had happened right after he went missing, perhaps. It’s been what, almost a week now? Let’s wait for Jessie’s report and take it from there. No use speculating until we have something concrete to work with.” Trey put his hands on her shoulders to help settle her, squeezing the thin fabric of her shirt as she stared at the screen waiting for the computer to finish booting up.
“A decent-size amount, that’s for sure,” Edgar said. He went over to the bar and undid the tiny lock. “Enough to set the alarms off.”
“Define large,” Trey asked. “How much did the accountants say it was?”
“Fifteen thousand.”
Ally spun to face the handler.
“What?” Trey said, unsure he’d heard correctly.
Edgar nodded. “Fifteen thousand dollars. It sent up a red flag to Accounting, as well as to your associate, I assume.” The last sentence was directed to Trey.
“Oh, God. Remind me again—why didn’t we freeze his cards?” She put a hand to her right temple, rubbing it.
“We needed to see if they got used,” Trey answered. “Either by Vincent or someone else.”
“Yes.” She sighed, closing her eyes. “Yes. We had to.”
Edgar continued talking as he poured out a glass of club soda. “Accounting made a point of noting such an amount puts a strain on our finances at this stage of this project. Your parents…”
“Fuck.” Ally glared at the screen as Edgar came over and put her drink within easy reach. “They’re going to find out. There’s no way this won’t shoot up the line to them.”
“At least you can tell them he’s alive,” Trey offered. “Better than the alternative.”
“I wonder.” She took a sip and shook her head. Her lips trembled. “God help me, I wonder.”
Edgar slipped out, leaving them alone in the shared living room.
“You don’t mean that.” He went to the table, standing beside her.
“I know.” She pressed the cool glass to her forehead. “I just get so tired of covering for him. He might be like a brother to me, but he can be such an asshole at times.”
“What’s Jessie got to say?” He gestured at the screen.
She tapped a few keys, opening up the program. It took a second for her to scan the message.
Trey read it over her shoulder but said nothing, waiting for her to take the lead.
“Okay. Okay.” She settled in the chair. “Seems a security camera caught him inside a bank taking the advance out. The teller required full identification before allowing the withdrawal, and he provided it. So, we have him on camera, alive and well. Even in Reno, you can’t pull fifteen thousand out of an ATM.” Ally gave a strained laugh. “I’m not sure how Jessie got access to a private camera like that, but she did.”
Trey smiled. “Don’t ask. It does confirm he’s conscious and healthy enough to go to a bank, which is a major step up from worrying about whether he’s lying dead in the morgue or not. And if he were taking it out under duress, he had plenty of chances to ask for help. He could have written a note, made some sort of indication he was in trouble. Bank employees are trained to look for that sort of thing. So, I’d say it’s a good bet kidnapping is off the board now.”
She sipped the drink again. “Thank God. I’ll need to do some creative accounting to justify this one if my parents don’t catch on.”
“Tell them you used the money on a gigolo.” He chuckled as she turned to look at him. “I’ll give you a receipt.” He puffed out his chest. “I’ll itemize it if that’ll help.”
Ally pressed both hands to her mouth, and for a brief second, he thought he’d crossed the line. Her resounding burst of laughter settled his nerves, and he grinned, pleased with himself.
“That would be interesting.” She cleared her throat. “I don’t believe it’ll fly well with the IRS. Even if we are in Las Vegas. But I appreciate your willingness to take one for the team.”
“Least I can do for you. If he’s in Reno, Jessie will find him. She’s excellent at her job. Dylan will send her help if she asks. Now that we’ve got a location it’ll be easy to tighten the net and bring him back.”
“But…” She chewed on her lip for a second before continuing. “What if Vincent won’t come back willingly?”
“You’d be surprised at how convincing Jessie can be.”
She eyed him for a second, weighing his words. “We’re done for the day.” She wiped her forehead. “Tomorrow we’ve got another meeting, boring stuff. We’re still claiming food poisoning is the reason for Vincent’s disappearance.”
“Do you…” He paused, unsure how to thread this particular needle. “Since we’ve pretty well confirmed that he hasn’t been kidnapped, do you still want me to go with you tomorrow?” The words tumbled out, his usual calmness disturbed at the idea of having to leave. “I mean, I’m still your liaison if you’d like.”
“I like.” Her smile soothed over his jangled sentences. “Even if Vincent’s safe and sound, he’s still not here. Edgar’s going to keep prowling the bars to alleviate his guilt and to make sure Vincent doesn’t slip away from Jessie and pop back up here.” Her cheeks pinked. “And I like the way you think. I’m interested in seeing what else you can show me.”
Trey bit back the obvious response, noting her cheeks turning a darker shade of red as she realized what she’d said.
Time to let her off the hook.
“Right. I’m going to go down to the fitness center and work out. After I come back up, I need to put in a bit of work online—my other job and all that.”
“Sure. Go ahead.” Ally ran her hands over the keyboard, bringing up other messages. “I’ll call you if I need you. Just don’t forget to come to bed. Here. I mean, in Vincent’s room,” she added hurriedly, “so we can keep the illusion of Vincent being sick.”
“That’s not going to last much longer,” he warned. “People are going to notice, put two and two together. I’m sure there’s already a few rumors flying around about him not making an appearance. Edgar and I are ordering light meals, but he’s got to be recovering by now.”
“As long as the illusion lasts long enough for us to bring him back.” She looked at him.
For a wild, furious minute he thought she was going to come to him, wrap her arms around him and kiss him.
Then she smiled and it was enough for now.
…
Ally coughed and reached for the club soda, grateful for the cool drink. The fine dust from the construction site had slipped under her blouse, and now she itched all over.
But the issue had been settled with Capprelli.
With Trey’s help, her inner voice reminded her.
Capprelli didn’t know who the hell Trey was but assumed he was in charge, not Ally. He knew her last name was Sheldon but automatically deferred to Trey.
That’s how the business works.
She’d fought for years to earn respect inside her family’s company, and now it needed to extend outward. Trey talking Capprelli down didn’t help, nor did the confrontation with the catcaller.
Still, she didn’t feel as slighted as she would have if anyone else had done it.
Ally sighed and scanned the computer screen. There was enough work here to keep her busy for the rest of the day, and maybe she could keep her mind off of Trey.
She had a company to run with or without Vincent.
Another glance at the closed door had her heart racing.
She wasn’t a fool. She suspected there was more to Trey’s assignment than met the eye. But she’d cross that bridge when she got to it. Right now, she knew Vincent was alive, and Jessie would catch up with him sooner or later.
She couldn’t hold back a chuckle, imagining how he’d take being hustled back by a private investigator. She suspected Jessie would be getting an earful.
And as for Ally and what she wanted?
Maybe it was time to take a chance.
After all, this was Las Vegas…