“Um…I don’t have any ID on me…” I give a nervous laugh, lying through my teeth. “The guys told me to leave my wallet at home—that they’d be treating me on this vacation.”
“Here’s the thing, Ms. Bloom.” Espinoza sighs, reaching into his front pocket. “You bear a striking resemblance to a missing omega we’re trying to locate—a Wren Messina.”
My heart stops. I watch, the world moving in slow motion as he unfolds a photo and puts it on the coffee table in front of us.
I’d recognize the photo anywhere. It’s the same picture my parents have been putting out on the news, from thatgodsforsaken photoshoot they arranged. And of course, it has that “Nest Luxe” stamped across the bottom.
The omega staring at me in the photo has sunken eyes, skin so pale it’s almost translucent, and looks damn miserable.
It’s me.
But…is it?
Teddy frowns, leaning forward. “Huh. I don’t see it. I mean, this omega…she’s all…sick lookin’.”
He’s right. The omega in the photo looksrough. Her hair is pulled back so tight it looks painful, and she looks ridiculously uncomfortable in the clothes she’s wearing.
“I suppose I can see the resemblance,” I admit, leaning back into Maverick’s hold. “But I don’t know how to prove this isn’t me.”
Maverick shifts slightly underneath me. “When was this omega kidnapped?”
Officer Bingham answers, sighing. “Originally? About five days ago. But she was only with her original captors for two days before she was taken fromthem.”
“If I can speak freely…” Maverick trails off, tilting his head, and both Bingham and Espinoza nod, “Well, the omega in this photo looks to be malnourished and a little sickly. Obviously, Sylvia is neither of those things, and if it’s only been five days since she was taken, it would be impossible for her to go from that,” he points to the photo of me, “to this glowing picture of health right here,” his hands run down my arms, “don’t you think?”
“Look.” Bingham sits forward, his hands clasping in front of him. “I get what you’re saying. I believe you…but we need to perform some kind of verification. I can see this all being one big misunderstanding, so I’ll try to make it as painless as possible. Do you have anything in this cabin that can verify your identity as Sylvia Bloom?”
Teddy’s back goes straight. “We do! I can grab it right now!”
My brows furrow before I blanch, realizing what he’s talking about.
He wants to show the officers my Magic-Mike-esque painting of him.
My face flushes. “Teddy—”
“You do?” Bingham looks pleasantly surprised.
“Sylvie had me model for a paintin’ just last night.” He shoots me a wink before standing. “I’ll be back in a jiff.”
My hands cover my face as my cheeks heat. This is the most embarrassing thing to ever happen to me.
“Is everything alright, Ms. Bloom?” Officer Espinoza asks gently.
“Yes!” I squeak out, before quickly uncovering my face. “It’s just, uh…this painting is a little different than what I normally do.”
Bingham grins. “You’re really very talented—I’m surprised you haven’t been notified by anyone about how this blew up. Here.” He pulls his phone out, typing quickly before turning it around to face us. A photo-realistic, up close painting of a bumblebee sitting on a flower fills the screen, a woman’s voice speaking in the background.
“Look at this, you guys,” the woman says, zooming in on the detail of the water drops on the flower petals. On the side of the screen, there’s a small number under a heart, reading…two-point-one million? “This is a painting by ‘Sylvia Bloom’. Never heard of her? Me neither. The woman is a ghost. I can’t find a single thing about her anywhere, besides these paintings. I’ll be posting again in a few days, I had someone DM me to say they just bought two of her pieces—”
He clicks the screen off, grinning. “See?”
People…they like my paintings?
My breath catches in my chest as I stare at the blank screen. I had no idea so many people…
“Alright, here we go!” Teddy comes back into the room, canvas in hand facing him.
Right. I was so distracted by all the people loving my art, that I forgot that Teddy was just about to embarrass me to save me.
