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We spent hours catching up on emails. There were thousands of them. Not only did we have to respond to everyone, we had to cancel hundreds of orders that had come in over the past few weeks. It was not a good look for us.
When Owen finally showed up, we squeezed him in a bear hug and put him to work right away. Of course, he had a million questions, but we kept our responses short and to the point. No use getting him tangled up in this mess. As far as he was concerned, I had gotten cold feet and taken Juliet on a short honeymoon trip until I decided to come to my senses and go back home to Ryzen.
I spoke with La Madam Orgo directly on the phone, explaining the situation with the warehouse. She was our top customer and had ordered five thousand of our rose stimulator toys before our warehouse was destroyed. It killed me to cancel such a huge order, but there was just no way to fulfill it. It would be months, most likely, before we would be up and running again. That was assuming the insurance paid out and oh, yeah, that I wasn’t in prison. She was beyond understanding, and I had to hold in the tears when she offered to help in any way she could. I hung up with a promise to let her know when we were back in business. She’d said she would be ready to place another order when the time came.
Owen sent out a mass social media post explaining how we had hit a hardship, and that we weren’t accepting any new orders until further notice. By the time five rolled around, we had almost caught up on everything, minus a few phone calls that would just have to wait.
I peeked out the window and watched as Valik leaned against the SUV, checking his watch every few seconds. He had been out there for most of the day, only disappearing once or twice for a few minutes at a time.
“Jules, have Valik take you home.” I closed the blinds and nibbled on my bottom lip.
We looked at each other, having a conversation with our eyes. She knew I was supposed to meet the guys upstairs soon, and no, I didn’t need her to stay.
“Awesome, maybe he can give me a ride too? I took the bus here, and, uh, don’t feel like getting mugged on my way home.” Owen scrunched up his face and we chuckled.
“Go on, you two. Tell him I’m still working and I’ll be ready by the time he gets back.”
Well, I hoped I’d be ready.
By the time they left, I was ready to go upstairs. I moved the boxes out of the way, almost having a heart attack when a giant rat scurried from behind the boxes. It was the size of a squirrel, and there was no way it wasn’t on steroids. Maybe it would run out the door. Wishful thinking. It wasn’t like I would ever be able to kill it. Or want to. Hehadbeen here first.
The stairs leading upstairs were covered in cobwebs and had an unpleasant smell like a flea market. I covered my nose with my shirt, and opened the door to the apartment.
It was a lot nicer in there than I’d thought it was going to be. It was as if someone had been living there for some time and had just recently moved out. I rubbed my finger over the TV stand and raised my eyebrows. Not a speck of dust. If I was being honest, it was a hell of a lot cleaner and fresher-smelling up there than it was down in the office space. Maybe the FBI had had someone come in and clean up the place. I shook my head at the thought. That didn’t make any sense either.
I snooped around opening one door after another, not finding anything of interest. It was almost time for them to get here, and I wiped my palms against my pants. It wasn’t like I had any reason to be nervous. This was just a check-in. Something wasn’t sitting right in my stomach, but I chalked it up to nerves and waited on the living room couch.
Exactly at five thirty, the back door to the apartment squeaked open and Delove walked in, followed by Dobbs. I stood and wrapped my arms around myself, offering a smile. But when Cian walked in and slammed the door behind him, my face fell. I hadn’t been sure he was going to come. But he had come.
And he looked pissed.
Chapter Nine
“You drugged him?” Delove’s eyes were practically popping out of his head. The FBI agents sat opposite from me while Cian leaned against the kitchen counter with his arms crossed over his chest.
I tugged on the collar of my shirt and looked everywhere except Cian’s face. “Well, you said to get evidence by any means necessary.”
Dobbs howled with laughter and slapped his knee. “Good one, kid.”
See, at least someone in the room appreciated my antics. It wasn’t like it was all that dangerous. What was the worst that could have happened anyways?
“Nova.” Delove held his hands up. “You need to be careful. That was…”
“Reckless,” Cian muttered, his eyes drilling into me.
“Fine.” I sighed. “But did you at least get the pictures, the video? It’s good, right? Is it enough?”Please tell me it’s enough.My leg bounced up and down to the rhythm of the ceiling fan clanking. The look on their faces said it all though, and I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment. Of course it wasn’t going to be that easy, I should have known better.
“Oh, we got the pictures, and a sneak peek at your little show, Miss La Roux.” Dobbs tossed a stack of photos on the coffee table between us. It was all the pictures I had taken over the past few days, and video stills of me and Ryzen at dinner and at his apartment.
There was a series of pictures on top of the pile of Ryzen shirtless, walking towards me and standing between my legs. I flipped it over and glanced at Cian. He stared at me, expressionless, which only made my heart beat faster. I clasped my hands together to keep them from shaking and turned back to Dobbs.
“Well, obviously nothing happened. There was noshow.” I shuffled through the pictures, finding the ones with the bank statements. “Look, this is suspicious, right? Has to be something shady.”
Delove nodded and flipped through the photos. “It’s a good start. He’s layering the money, trying to make it seem legitimate before he withdraws it. We need more though. See if you can find more statements.”
I rubbed my hands over my face. “OK, what about these appraisals?”
Dobbs grunted and leaned back into the sofa. “He’s overvaluing to get a bigger loan. Still not enough.” He sipped his coffee. “We need more.”
