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“It was that billboard. The one with the older woman. I don’t know, maybe she’s the founder or something.”
“I know the one.”
“So here she is in the picture, looking like some sort of giving, altruistic executive. Or supposed to be looking like one. But that’s not what I took away from the picture.”
“What did you take away?”
“That’s the problem. I can’t put my finger on it, but here she is supposed to be looking all ‘you go be the best you’ and compassionate and encouraging. I just didn’t see it. Or maybe a better explanation, because it was an ad, was that I wasn’t buying it.”
“Ads are meant to sell. Most people take a quick, snap impression of what the advertiser wants them to see and move on.”
Nova considered that for a minute, finding his description a good one. If she hadn’t been sitting there with her car parked in the direct line of sight of the billboard, she likely wouldn’t have noticed the incongruity of it all.
It was only as she’d sat there, staring at it, that she’d seen something out of the ordinary.
But it was after the conversation, that strange young woman staring persistently at her stomach as if Nova carried a possible new follower, that she’d felt that strange air of malevolence.
What was really going on at the edge of town at the AAG?
And why did she feel that threat even more keenly than Ferdy’s possible reentry into her life?
Chapter 6
Nikolas pulled into the underground garage at his condo complex and kept his finger on the button for the swinging gate door so that Nova could pass in behind him. They’d wrapped up in his office after a long day and he’d told her to follow him before parking in the guest area once inside the gates. After he put his car in his own assigned spot, he’d promised to come back around and help her with her bags.
The conversation they’d had in his office hadn’t left his thoughts the entire drive back to his place and he was already planning a call to Spencer Colton, a sergeant for the MVPD, to see how much the man knew about the AAG.
Although he’d never had a reason to look into the organization in the past, Nikolas was mildly aware of them. You couldn’t live in Mustang Valley and not be.
To be honest, he had never really given them a lot of thought. But Nova’s reaction had him wondering.
Although she’d attempted to brush it off and he’d finally satisfied himself that she hadn’t actually been hurt or even overtly threatened, something still didn’t sit well. It had been pure instinct that had her running from her meeting with the AAG employee and he didn’t like it.
Even if he bought her excuse about an overreaction, there was no way she had made up the panic that had settled deep in her eyes.
Nikolas considered it all as he walked from his car toward visitor parking. Once he had her settled in and ordered dinner, he would spend a little time of his own looking up the AAG. A bit of nosing around and a few discreet searches to see if there was anything to look into a little more deeply.
In the meantime, he wanted to get Nova’s mind off her day and thought a hearty meal of Italian takeout might do the trick.
She was already out of her car, the trunk open, when he reached her. “I can help you with that.”
“I don’t have all that much.”
She wasn’t kidding. Beyond a suitcase and an oversize travel bag, there was little else in her trunk.
“Is this all?”
“I travel light.”
“Awfully light, considering you’ve been driving for quite a while.”
“I don’t need much. And I’ve been trying to save fo
r the baby.” She extended her hand and took the rolling suitcase from him. “I haven’t seen any real reason to spend frivolously.”
And there it was. More of that bravado that suggested she wasn’t quite ready to tell him why she’d come all the way to Arizona looking for her father.
Oh, he had no doubt she genuinely wanted to meet Ace and her other family members. That mix of eagerness and trepidation when he’d called Marlowe earlier was real. But as each hour passed he knew that wasn’t the whole story.
