“It’s me,” I say. “Hailey’s not with Vaughn.”
“That’s what we suspected after you were escorted out ofDelta.”
“I trust you’ve not been sitting on your ass the past hour?”
“Who do you take me for?” he scoffs. “Of course not. Given this is Jeremy’s number, I assume you’ll be back soon?”
“Depends how quickly Foley arrives for his performance.” I run a heavy hand down my face. “Any leads?”
“Nothing concrete yet, but given where the bodies were found, we’re betting on Noretto. Some fisherman found Matthews floating in Tappan Lake. That’s Ohio, but just an hour outside Pittsburgh.”
Fuck. That’s Noretto’s turf. He has good reason to be particularly interested in Alex’s evidence against Rhett. When Vaughn told me he didn’t have Hailey, I suspected Noretto, but I didn’t want to let that thought sink.
Not only because the man is a fucking nutcase but also because of his chosen line of work—selling girls from Eastern Europe to American brothels. The thought of Hailey in his house, surrounded by men with zero respect for women, is enough to send my temper skyrocketing.
“Blaze has the most to gain, and his place isn’t that far from the lake,” Jackson adds somewhere in the background. “We’re looking into how Matthews’ daughter was taken.”
“Good. I doubt they threw up too many smoke screens. If you can pinpoint where she was kidnapped and whodid it, we’ll have confirmation.”
I purposely don’t say Blaze’s name out loud. Vaughn caved but I don’t trust him not to make a move on Noretto’s place.
That would not go down well. He’s a cop. He has to follow protocol, and protocol would get him killed if he got anywhere near Blaze’s mansion.
Fucking perfect... caring about Hailey means I need to keep her father—a cop—alive. His death would leave her devastated... that’snotsomething I can handle.
With this new information, it’s almost too fucking obvious Blaze Noretto has my girl, but I need proof. Dante won’t let me go in with all guns blazing based on a suspicion. We don’t need another war, though I’d start one to get Hailey back.
I hope she won’t tell them what she sees in her flashbacks. She should know better. She gave in to me without much of a fight, but I think—well, I hope—her feelings were to blame. Though, given her history with Alex and me, she’s not the best judge of character.
The only consolation is that she’s much more valuable alive than dead. On top of the evidence, she’s awitness. I doubt Blaze wants the evidence to send Rhett down for life, but an eyewitness makes a great bargaining chip. I fucking hope she hasn’t told him she saw Rhett perform an execution.
“I’m trying to hack his security system but it’s a tight ship,” Ryder says and the faint sound of fingers tapping a keyboard confirms he’s working.
“I’ll be home soon. Tell Broadway to wait at my loft.”
“Got it. He and Koby are out in the city asking the right questions now we think we know where she is.”
“Good. Keep me posted.”
I cut the call, tossing the phone back to Jeremy.
Fifteen tense minutes later, my lawyer arrives, which means Dante briefed him about the situation and Foley spent the past hour waiting for the call.
A knock shakes the doorframe and a lower-ranking officer, one of those who arrived inDeltawith Vaughn, flings it open after a resoundingcome infromJeremy.
Without a word, he steps aside, letting Michael Foley dressed in a suit worth more than his Merc into the room,his all-business-and-zero-bullshit attitude overpowering the atmosphere.
Working as the lead lawyer for Dante pays well, and the guy is a fucking magician, so he often gets a bonus. His eyes lock with mine as he crosses the threshold.
Vaughn dismisses the other cop and stands his ground despite Foley’s skeptical look.
“He stays,” I say.
A nod is all I get in return while Michael pulls out a wad of papers. He came prepared. Getting Dante’s men out of interrogation rooms isn’t a common occurrence, considering we rarely get caught, but it does happen, so Michael knows the drill.
“Give him a burner.” I motion to Vaughn.
Still saying nothing, Michael opens a separate compartment in his briefcase and assembles a burner phone before passing it over.
