“I’ll do it for that,” the female lifeguard said beside her.
“No!” Bethany wanted to shout in frustration. “It has to be him!”
“Bethany, I think it’s time you come out of the pool,” Holly tried to interfere. “We can come back another day after you’ve calmed down.”
“One hundred thousand,” she watched him desperately, taking wobbling steps towards him.
“That’s it,” Holly was entering the pool. “This session is over.”
“I’m sorry ma’am,” the man backed up away from Bethany. “I can’t do that.”
Bethany knew she didn’t have the courage to put her face under the water herself. She began to cry in frustration, feeling like she was never going to find out the answers.
Holly put a towel around Bethany’s shoulders. “Let’s get out of the pool.”
Bethany let herself be led out. She ignored Holly’s praises on how far she’d come to her goal.
She felt like she’d accomplished nothing. Disappointment swamped her. Bethany sat on a bench and cried bitterly over the experience.
Drew was starting to feel annoyed. It had been two days since the operation had gone south both literally and figuratively. He hadn’t been contacted about any further arrangements by the criminals peddling the heroin. Nor had he learned any valuable information from his sources on the streets.
It also didn’t help that people kept stopping him on the street and asking if he was Max Ramesly. Some people snapped photos of him with their phones. A few called it in to the police, trying to get the reward. It was getting to the point where Drew was getting some guff from the guys at the police department. Every time he went through the doors, they told him how many ‘Drew’ sightings they had each day. It was ridiculous.
What was worse, he’d gotten a message on his voicemail from Sterling Denver, the tabloid journalist. She wanted to meet with him and discuss why he looked so much like Max Ramesly.
That was never going to happen. How she’d been able to track him down bothered Drew. If she could figure it out, then other people could.
However, that possibility didn’t bother him as much as still having Max Ramesly living in his tiny apartment while the wet behind his ears rookie Cotter pretended to look after him. Basically, they both watched cable and bonded while eating Drew’s food.
Drew looked at his empty fridge. “Hey rich boy, pony up some cash for groceries?”
“I have a twenty,” Max said as he pulled out his wallet. “After that it’s credit or we’ll have to hit the bank.”
“Dude,” Cotter shook his head. “You’re missing remember? You can’t go to the bank. Neither can we use your cards. Someone at the bank is bound to report it.”
Max frowned. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
Drew snatched the twenty before Max could think of taking it back. At the very least, he could get a few groceries on his way back tonight. In the meanwhile, he might have to borrow from Jana to keep the two guys on his couch from starving.
He wondered if Miguel had told her or if he was being cowardly and waiting for Drew to do it. Probably waiting, Drew decided, since he hadn’t heard anything from Jana.
“There she is,” Max grinned and pointed to the television. “That’s my beautiful wife.”
It was on a national news channel. Drew inwardly groaned. It was one thing to be local, but to go national? What were they going to say when they ‘magically’ found Max Ramesly? He decided it wasn’t his problem. Green would have to take care of it.
Mrs. Piaget Ramesly tearfully plead for any news on her missing husband with a quiet dignity. She was very pretty, and Drew could see how she might have caught Max’s attention. Drew had a look at his half-brother and realized the man was absolutely besotted with his wife.
Drew shrugged. People were weird like that sometimes.
“Did you see the latest?” Cotter held up a tabloid to Drew.
He took it.Max Ramesly feared dead. Wife celebrates.
Max grinned confidently. “They are so wrong this time.”
Drew wasn’t so sure. She was probably getting the best sleep of her life for the past few days. They had better get things resolved soon or she might never take Max back. The article went on to say how Mrs. Ramesly was about to become a wealthy woman with her husband’s shares from Ramesly Pharmaceutical once she was found to be a widow. Drew shook his head in disbelief and tossed the paper back onto the coffee table. Tabloid journalist Sterling Denver was losing her touch if this was anything to go by.
There was a sound of a key in the lock and the door to the apartment opening. Drew immediately turned, and Cotter raised his weapon as a man with tattoos on his neck and arm entered the room. He stopped and looked at them in surprise.
