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“Washington DC?” I couldn’t believe she’d go so far, but it was better than on the other side of the world. I could get to her by the end of the day. I just needed Davina to make the arrangements and ready the jet.
“No. Eastern Washington. Washington State, not DC.”
She was still on the West Coast. Relief washed over me. “What’s in Eastern Washington? Never mind, it doesn’t matter. Just give me an address.”
“How are you feeling?” He disregarded my request.
“I’m fine. Tell me where Miranda is.”
He pressed his lips thin. I’d seen him do this often when giving bad news. “York has some relevant concerns we should consider.”
“What concerns?”
He crossed his leg over his knee and stared at his shoe.
I was losing my patience with him. “Give me the goddamn address!”
“She changed her name, William. Closed all her accounts, everything—credit cards, bank accounts, social media, email. It was like she tried to wipe her identity off the planet. It seems she doesn’t want to be found.” He was quiet, contemplative. It scared the shit out of me.
“Okay?” I shrugged a shoulder. None of that mattered to me.
My father sighed. “It wasn’t easy, but York managed to hack into her business computer. All of Miranda’s files were wiped clean, but Lily’s weren’t.” He paused again, and it about killed me.
“Go on!” Jesus, he was acting so blasé about this.
“York got his big break when he discovered Lily had opened a new bank account last week…” His voice trailed off.
My stomach tightened. Why in the hell was he dragging this out? “A new account? Okay…”
“With an Anna Gordon. We assume Anna is Miranda. York took the name and did what he does best. Don’t ask me what that is”—he waved his hand in the air—“but a debit card for Anna Gordon was used at aburger joint.” The wordspainfullyrolled off his refined tongue. He despised burgers. Let alone anything withjointattached to it. If he only knew how many burgers I’d eaten since Miranda and I got together, he might strip me of my inheritance. “The location and establishment are what tipped him off that she might be staying there. He dug a little more and—” He stopped himself.
Why the hesitation?
“Dad, please continue. Please.”
“She’s working at a bridal boutique. The name Anna Gordon just went through the system for her W2. We think she’s paid cash for everything thus far. As soon as she uses her debit card again, he’ll be on it.” My father took another long pause while I processed what he told me.
“This is great! York is a fucking awesome PI. I hope you pay him well for his service!” I started walking in a circle, deliriously happy. When I turned around, he didn’t share my excitement. “What? Why the long face? This is fantastic news! I hope you know this means I won’t be in the office tomorrow and quite possibly the rest of the week.”
“William—”
“Hell, count me gone until further notice. I’m willing to bet I’ll have a lot of groveling to do, but hey, I’ll do whatever it takes!” I clapped my hands together, rubbing them hard against the other. I felt lighter than before, especially now everything was out in the open with Jason and the others. I didn’t have the stress of keeping secrets anymore. It was a marvelous feeling. “Damn, I’m so happy.”
“William, sit down!” It wasthetone. The one that said,Son, you aren’t going to like what I’m about to say.I’d heard it throughout my life.
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Sit. Down.”
“What? Are you going to piss on my joy now? Well, I don’t want to hear it. Now give me the location of the boutique she’s working at.”
“Shut up, Will!” He never called me Will.
I closed my mouth. After all, he was my father, a St. James. It earned him my respect.
“Dammit!” he hissed, rubbing his hand against his cheek.
“What?” Fear crept down my neck. Instinctively I knew I wasn’t going to like what he was about to tell me.
