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A gentleman as usual, Declan stood to see her seated. Then he locked eyes with her. She could see the confusion in his stare, and she just shook her head in response to his silent question.
The auction got underway with a short speech by the chairman of the board of trustees overseeing the charity for special needs kids. Belle only kept half an ear on what was going on because her mind was furiously running through every possible reason why Ethan would be here and what he could be planning.
What did she know about the ranch? Her parents were friends with the Wynton family. They didn’t spend holidays together or anything, but she’d known about the family her entire life.
She heard her parents discussing people all the time. She racked her brain—had she heard anything about the ranch lately? A rare diamond dug up on the property or a gold mine discovered? Any reason at all for Ethan to want—
She stifled a gasp. She knew about the Wyntons forming a security agency but what had her parents said? Oh god. The office was onsite at the ranch.
Her heart ticked faster.Thatwas exactly the type of thing that would make Ethan salivate for his next adrenaline hit. Breaking into a security agency and stealing…what?
What could he be after?
If she wasn’t wrong, the agency dealt in cybersecurity as well. There could possibly be a lot of sensitive data he wouldloveto get his hands on.
She tapped Declan’s arm. He looked at her. “I’m stepping outside for some air.”
“I’ll come with you.” He twisted his head left and right as though searching for something.
“I can go alone.”
He gave her a sharp look. “I’ll come with you,” he repeated in a more forceful tone.
They made their way outside. Once they were in the open, she headed straight for the bundle of cords she’d seen plugged into a main power source. She stared at those cords. Were they all supplying power to the RVs?
“Belle?”
“Isn’t there a security office in the area?”
He showed no change in expression. “Not sure. I wasn’t part of the tour of the grounds. Why?”
Because she wouldn’t put it past Ethan and Haileigh not to be running other types of cords that didn’t supply power.
“I just remembered somebody mentioned a security office. I wondered if there are security officers here tonight,” she fibbed.
He gave her a sharp look. “Did somebody say something to you? Haileigh or your ex?”
“No, but if theydid, then I could potentially let security know that I’m being harassed.” She gave a small laugh to cover her lie. It bothered her to lie to anyone, but she felt especially bad about lying to Declan.
Her mind still worked over the reason for holding this conversation in the first place.
They’re not here to have the ranch experience. What did Ethan talk about doing?
All those talks with Ethan she had red-flagged popped up in her mind now. He bragged about them but in a way that made it seem fictious. To anybody who listened, it sounded like “if I could get away with it, I’d try.” But maybe they were more rooted in reality than she ever thought.
She ticked them off one by one.
Investment fraud.
Email scam.
Fraud against the elderly.
Bank robbery—at least one that she knew of, but there could be more. He hada lotof what he called “dreams.”
What hadn’t he done yet? What crime was on his bucket list?
Ransoming files and blackmail.
