“With what?” a forlorn Lydia asked.
“My credit card.”
“Dex, you can’t!” It was a token protest, and we both knew it. She pressed her lips together. “You don’t have to clean up our mistakes.”
“Your family doesn’t deserve to have this night ruined,” I pointed out.
Lydia’s eyes filled with tears that she blinked back. “Fine. The list is in the office.”
William intercepted us as we crossed the hall. I told him enough of the current predicament so that he would give us the keys to the office to access the full vendor list. His jaw tightened but he nodded. He handed me the keys to the office without a word and went to stand near the kitchen door, keeping an eye on the vendors.
In the office, Lydia spread out her notes. The list was longer than I expected with catering staff, glassware, shuttles, rentals, even the DJ deposit. We started making calls. One by one, I verified that no one had been paid. I processed transactions through my online banking while Lydia wrote confirmation numbers on a paper with the amounts to keep track. We went through the serving staff, one by one, because Wickham hadn’t hired through an agency but each person individually. It took nearly an hour. Between my calls, Lydia checked her phone andtried in vain to get ahold of her supposed boyfriend yet again. Wickham’s number went to voicemail. His business line played an automated message that never reached a person. I wrote down the car plate number I remembered from earlier.
Lydia rubbed her forehead. “How did I not see this coming?”
“Because he made you feel accepted, useful, and wonderful. That's what people like him do. He’s a charmer and a scoundrel,” I gently told her.
She swallowed hard. “Lucy will never forgive me.”
“She will. But she may make you work for it,” I mentioned with an almost smile.
That earned a weak laugh. “She always does.”
“She’s your sister. She will forgive you. I’m certain of it,” I replied.
“What are we going to tell Lucy?” Lydia wondered.
“Nothing yet. Let her have a good time tonight.”
“She will be furious if she finds out we waited.”
“She will be furious either way,” I dryly stated.
Lydia nodded, quiet for a moment. “You really care about her.”
“Yes,” I said simply.
I checked the time. Wickham had been gone for nearly two hours. He wasn't coming back. I stepped out into the hall and found Carly waiting near the doorway. Her expression had cooled, but she smiled as if nothing had happened.
“You disappeared. I was wondering if something was wrong,” she said with a practiced smile.
“Nothing’s wrong,” I lied. She didn’t need to know about what had happened here tonight.
“Will you ever change your mind? About the lodge?” Carly asked, but we both knew that wasn’t her question. She wanted to know if I would ever change my mind about her.
“I’m happy where I am,” I said simply.
Carly looked at me for a long moment before turning away, her heels tapping across the floor. I let her go.
Lydia came up to me, face flushed as she grabbed my arm, showing me her phone. “I found an email from Gavin. It has his business logo and banking information.”
“Forward it to me,” I requested.
She did, and I opened it on my phone. The routing number belonged to a personal account, not a company. The rest was smoke and mirrors. There wasn’t a registered business ID, no tax number, just a name and a promise.
Lydia watched me work. “You’re calm.”
“I might be on the outside,” I murmured. Inside I was seething. If Wickham didn’t close down the bank account, we might be able to find him and have him prosecuted. I sent the email to my team of lawyers before giving my head lawyer a quick call. I briefly went through the details of the situation. “I want to find out who he is, where he is, and how we can prosecute him for anything and everything.”
