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She smiles. “Coming right up.” But that is not her usual smile.
“Are you sure you’re good? Things with the doctor—"
“Clean bill of health. It was just some strange readings from the lab. Thanks for asking.”
“Yeah.” Still not a normal interaction with Shelly, but I’m too tired to dig into it. As soon as I walk into my office, I jolt. There’s a man staring out my window. “Uh, I think you’re lost.”
He turns around and tells me what I already know as he sticks his hand out for mine. “Pavel Cerny. And you are Beau MacMillan, my new client.”
I do not know how to react, other than to shake his hand. “I am your what?”
He smiles. His salt and pepper hair is tousled stylishly, and he has dark eyes that look right through me. Pavel looks as though he would be comfortable on the pages of a first class airport lounge magazine modeling European watches. He has a hint of a Russian accent. “You are my new client. I am to be a surprise—"
“Oh, I’m surprised, alright.”
Just then, Cormac and Beckett burst into my office, and Cormac says, “Tada!”
I don’t want to be rude in front of Pavel, so I keep my voice level, but I am freaking out on the inside. “Cormac, Beckett, can either of you tell me what is going on?”
Cormac, grinning ear to ear, says, “I caught wind that Pavel’s Dubai project had a financing issue—
“Nothing to worry about,” Pavel says. “These things happen. I will continue with them once their money troubles go away after I complete the resort.”
Cormac continues, “And so I made some calls to get him for the resort.”
My stomach drops. “You did what?”
“No need to thank me—"
“No worries there.”
“But knowing what Elsie is going through and the fact you wanted Pavel from the beginning, I wanted to do this to help everyone. It keeps Pavel busy—
“I am always busy,” he says haughtily.
Cormac smiles at him. “That’s why I had to beat out three other people for this time slot. But a little bribery does wonders. Anyway, I knew this would be a brilliant solution for everyone.”
“Yeah. Great.”
Beckett laughs. “He’s in shock.”
“Something like that,” I mumble. “Why didn’t you tell me ahead of time? Either of you?” When I could have told you not to do this…
Cormac says, “Dude, I tried. I know you’re busy with everything for Elsie, but I would have thought you’d text your brother back.”
“I didn’t get a text from you.”
“Then check your phone. I sent like twenty texts about this. I even tried calling you. No answer.”
I feel around my pocket, and it’s not there. Check the other pockets—nope.Where the hell is my phone? Where was the last place I had it…I used it to call John. Had to go back to my plane before we left, because I had dropped my wallet. Did it fall out when I crawled around the cockpit for my wallet?Searching my memory, I cannot think of a time I used it in the hospital. Or since.
Fuck. That would explain why I haven’t heard from Elsie since I left New York.
“It’s not on me—"
“Your phone isn’t on you? Your pocket girlfriend is missing?” Beckett teases.
“No. It’s not.”
