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“There’s something I want to tell you, but don’t want you to freak you out.” She bit her bottom lip, and when I glared at her, she held her hands up. “Not about Cian. Well, not really. I’m probably overreacting… but the thing with Gretchen and the hair was really bothering me. And I know you said she moved to France.”
I nodded. “Yeah, that’s what Cian said.”
“Well, that’s the thing. I checked. She’s not in France. Actually, she’s not anywhere. It’s like she disappeared off the face of the earth.”
My heart skipped a beat, and I cleared my throat. “What do you mean?”
Juliet shrugged. “I don’t really know. I tried every search imaginable to find details on her, but nothing showed up. Eros and I were talking, and he called up a buddy in Europol, and his buddy got back to him last night.”
“And?” I leaned forward.
“And… nothing. There’s no Gretchen Mastillo in Europe, in the US… there’s just nothing.” She threw her hands up.
“I mean, she could have gone anywhere though.” I clasped my hands together, a million thoughts racing through my mind.
“No, I know. That’s why I didn’t want to make a big deal about it. It’s just, well, we’ve seen enough serial killer documentaries to know what a box with someone’s hair and favorite necklace in it means.” She scrunched up her face.
Ryzen, a killer? That was a whole new layer of fucked up. I mean, he was crazy, but killing someone like Gretchen? That made no sense. She was probably off living her best life in Jamaica or something. “Eros didn’t say anything when I saw him.”
“I told him not to freak anyone out.” She rolled her eyes. “He’s dramatic sometimes.”
“Since when are you guys so close?” I smirked and raised my eyebrow. “You little minx.”
“Oh, no, no, no no.” She held up her hands. “It’s not like that.”
We FaceTimed Owen and caught him up with what was going on with the insurance claim. He was beyond excited that we were hopefully getting closer to getting it resolved. Little did he know there were a ton of other problems we were handling right along with this one, but I would never tell him that. He was rebranding our website and excitedly showed us all the new tweaks he had made.
He was so happy, and I hoped his efforts weren’t being wasted. If I wasn’t able to pull this all off, then Juliet and I would be in jail for arson and insurance fraud, and website updates would be the least of our concerns.
*****
Valik drove Ryzen and I up to his estate in Highland Park a few hours later. Valik was as quiet as a mouse the entire ride, and I suspected he didn’t want to let on to Ryzen that we had become close buddies. I could understand that, so I didn’t try to mess with him. The last thing I needed was Ryzen yelling at Valik for being a decent human being.
I tucked my small bag by my feet and kept it out of Ryzen’s sight. It had my makeup, the ear cuff, my knife and my other supplies, including my second phone, the one Ryzen didn’t know about. I had learned my lesson after last time when the necklace hadn’t uploaded the feed to Delove, so this time, I would also record with my phone. I wasn’t taking any chances.
There were butterflies in my stomach as we got closer to the mansion. It felt more dangerous this time. The stakes were higher, not only because I was running out of time and ideas stalling Ryzen and the wedding, but because Kaviathin was expecting results from me as well. The complete opposite results of what the FBI wanted. And if I didn’t produce them, Cian might end up dead. I would never let that happen. Over my dead body would I let Kaviathin hurt a hair on Cian’s head. Not again.
Orin had tried to give me a small gun, but I had refused. First of all, I didn’t know how to use one that well. Cian had taken me shooting once, but that had just ended up with us having sex in the middle of the woods again. Secondly, I had no place to put it while I was at Ryzen’s mansion. It wasn’t like I could stuff it down my cleavage. I had snagged the garter belt I had worn with my Lara Croft costume the night I had met Cian, before I’d known it was actually him. It was just strong enough to hold my knife and my phone. Anything else and it would probably fall down my leg.
Besides, I didn’t think I would actually need it. It wasn’t like I would pull a gun on Ryzen and force him to confess, although the idea had crossed my mind a time or two. I wanted nothing more to see him quiver with fear, confess all his dirty sins, and get handcuffs slapped on his wrists. But no, I had to play this smart. And carrying around a gun was not smart.
I glanced at Ryzen out of the corner of my eye as he read the newspaper. The road up to the house was bumpy, with gravel rocks flying as we drove up. He couldn’t be a killer. Could he? As of late, he had more and more reminded me of a soft guy. Not in the cuddly kind of way, but in the way that he didn’t like to get his hands dirty. Money laundering, stealing, lying, yes—that was right up his alley. But actual murder? I didn’t think he was capable of pulling it off. Although ever since my conversation with Jules that morning, there was a rock the size of a boulder in my stomach.
We pulled up to the gate, and my eyes widened at the size of it. I should have known it was going to be lavish. It almost reminded me of Covington’s estate. It even had a grand waterfall statue in the center of the circular driveway. “It’s beautiful, Ryzen.”
He puffed his chest out and nodded. “Thank you, Nova. Although it pales in comparison to your beauty.” His hand stroked my cheek as his gaze went up and down my body. I clenched my jaw and laughed.
Valik saved the day and opened the door, holding his hand out to me. I stepped down and slammed the door.
“You’re quiet today,” I whispered as we walked to the back of the SUV and opened the trunk. He stuck his tongue out at me as Ryzen came around the back with his briefcase, and I chuckled.
“Ready, dear?” Ryzen held his arm out to me, and I looped my arm through his.
As ready as I’ll ever be.
I wasn’t sure what to expect tonight. Ryzen had said I didn’t have to do much, just mingle and make small talk. Try to avoid any talk about the wedding or the kind of work I did… yada, yada, the same rules as always. But that was fine, because the only thing I hoped to accomplish tonight was finding that journal and anything else that might help me get dirt on Ryzen.
He gave me a brief tour of his home, showing me all his toys, including the eight-car garage filled with luxury vehicles. None of that mattered to me; a Ferrari was just another car in my opinion. But he was really excited, even kneeling down and rubbing an invisible speck of dust off his Rolls-Royce. I oohed and ahhed, boosting his ego, and he loved every second of it.
