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He gave a short laugh at that. “It’s all gone, Ayla. I have three ex-wives who I cheated on, so the judge sided with them every time. You know I pay out the nose for them. I’ve lost far too much to gambling, and it costs a lot to maintain my lifestyle.”
“Bryan.” She gritted her teeth. She didn’t particularly like her boss, but of course she didn’t want him dead. He had to be exaggerating that possibility. This wasn’t the mafia after him, right? Oh my, what if it was? She didn’t want to know, and he’d told her he wouldn’t tell her who it was. That sounded like the mafia or some kind of gangsters.
She paced the bathroom. The comforting sound of the water filling the tub wasn’t enough to help her right now. She could not be taken under because of another man’s gambling issues. She was getting close to being out of debt. She couldn’t start over at a new job and take the massive pay cut. Maybe these were selfish thoughts, but it was hard to feel much compassion for Bryan and the lifestyle and stupidity that had put him in an impossible situation just like Tim had put her in the worst situation possible. “You had better figure this out. I can’t lose my job.”
“Believe me, Ayla, I don’t plan on losing everything. But I need your help. It’s why I set up this trip.”
“Now the truth comes out.” She’d earned this trip fair and square, but of course Bryan would manipulate it for his purposes. She didn’t know why she’d ever let herself believe any different.
“I need you to find out everything you can about the Delta family and a cave up in the mountains that was full of gold bricks that the Deltas stupidly exploded.”
“Bryan …” She took a long breath. “Are you trying to tell me you’re searching for some gold bricks that probably don’t exist? And even if they do exist, they’re buried under an exploded mountain and piles of snow. And if you don’t find them, you’ll be killed?”
“Exactly. You’ll help me?”
“Argh! Even if I wanted to help you, how could I?”
“You’re in tight with the ski-resort owner. I’ve done my research. The Delta family is ultra-tough and in tight with the military, so we don’t want to approach them directly. But you played into my plans perfectly getting that Jace guy to fall for you. He’s a friend of theirs. He’s even done ski videos with Hudson Delta. He’ll know about the gold bricks and where the cave is. Find out the info for me and then flirt with him and have him lead you to the cave. I’ll follow you. I’ll dig and find the bricks, and you can just have your fling with Jace. Then we’ll go home and all will be well.”
She didn’t know Jace that well, but using him or whoever these Delta people were for Bryan’s selfish stupidity was the last thing she was willing to do.
“Even if Jace knows where your bricks are buried, why would he lead me to them?”
“I saw how the guy was holding you and looking at you. He’ll do anything you ask. It’s why I brought you, so you could sucker a local into helping us with your good looks. I shouldn’t have gotten so jealous of him holding you, but I didn’t know who he was at that point. Plus, you know how I want you. I think it all worked, though. It made him want you even more, you know, thinking there was competition.”
“You are such an idiot,” she snapped. She was past the end of her patience. Him planning to use her, and of course thinking she’d agree, ticked her off. Him wanting her to manipulate Jace made her even madder. He’d lied to her and said he booked this resort because they weren’t open on Sundays and he knew how she loved and respected Christians. But back to his idiotic plan. “Why wouldn’t these Deltas dig up their own gold bricks?”
“They don’t want them. It’s some symbol of their love for their grandpa who was killed for some weapon. Apparently nobody cares about millions, possibly billions, in gold bricks.” The greed in his voice made her stomach churn.
“Why wouldn’t somebody else dig them up?”
“Hardly anybody outside the Delta family circle knows about it. My nephew Ollie was part of the elite military crew who tried to hunt down this weapon the Deltas owned. He saw all the gold bricks for himself. Told me about it when he was drunk in Vegas where I met him for a getaway. Ollie is all military and respectful and would never use information he gained on a mission for personal gain. He’d be ticked at me for going after them. I don’t think he even remembers telling me about them. He hasn’t said anything since, but I haven’t stopped thinking about them and now it’s the only way to stay alive and get back in the black. No matter how ticked Ollie might be.”
“Everybody is ticked at you, Bryan. I’d think you’d get used to it.”
“The price you have to pay sometimes.” His voice showed no remorse or concern. Ayla used to encourage him to find Jesus and to be faithful to his current wife and there for his children, but he never listened.
She focused on his stupid idea of the moment. “Have you looked outside? We’re in a mountain valley covered in three feet deep of snow. How are you going to get through the mounds of snow to dig up this cave?”
“Let me worry about that. I have a suitcase full of the right equipment. I’m smart and determined and it’ll all work out. Just do your part.”
She started to protest. He wasn’t smart and the only thing he was determined at was cheating someone else.
“Do it, Ayla, or I’m dead and you’ve lost your cash cow. Nobody else will pay you a twentieth of what I pay you and you know it. You’ll never pay off your debts or afford to pay for your grandmother’s care. They’ll transfer her to the state facility. That’d be a tragedy for you, wouldn’t it? I’ll check back in tomorrow.”
He hung up before she could say anything else. Ayla was sick to her stomach. Bryan was such an imbecile. Who burned through millions of dollars and got in such deep gambling debts they were going to be killed for it and then they decided stealing gold bricks buried under rock and snow was a good idea?
She hung her head. Tim had ruined his life and hers with his cheating and gambling. He hadn’t gone through millions of dollars, but probably only because he didn’t have access to that much. Bryan’s mind was a twisted mess and he had no morals, but she didn’t wish death on him.
Ayla sighed, set the towel down, and splashed into the tub. She sank down with a sigh of frustration that changed to a sigh of comfort. Despite how stirred up and angry she was with Bryan, the bath was perfect. The warm water encircled her, and the bath salts softened the water and made it smell like sweet lavender and eucalyptus. This was a moment of heaven.
She closed her eyes and said a prayer for strength and to know what to do to help Bryan without using Jace. A Christmas miracle? Please. She pushed away the angst and pressure for a moment.
“Thank you, Jace,” she breathed out.
Her mind spun, but she kept praying and felt herself relax. She had no clue how much time passed, but it must have been a while as she opened her eyes and it was completely dark outside, her fingers were pruned, and the water was cool.
“Ah, shoot.” She hadn’t meant to fall asleep.
