Hopefully he’s desperate enough to show up tomorrow morning to get his money.
CHAPTER 39
LIBBY
I pace my office the next morning before the game. I’m down at the arena again, even though the game isn’t until two this afternoon. I can’t stay busy at the apartment, and Jordan will be meeting with Bryce this morning. I need distraction so I can try to stop stressing about my husband.
I don’t really think he’s in danger. When he laid out the FBI’s plan last night to grab Bryce, he let me know that there will be several agents around to both protect him and make sure Bryce doesn’t slip away. Plus Bryce has never been violent in the past.
Heisdesperate, my brain reminds me.
Jordan is a large man who can take Bryce—easily, I remind my brain.
There’s a tap on the door and Valerie, my assistant, pokes her head in. “Libby?”
I whirl to her. Jordan’s meetup with Bryce isn’t for another hour, and Jordan would message me with any hiccups. But what if he couldn’t? What if something happened, like Bryce came after him last night, and Jordancan’treach me?
“Yes?” I ask, striding toward her, my phone already out.
“Erin called. She said you weren’t at home for her to film youand Jordan getting ready for the game. I told her there must have been a mix-up because you’re already down here.”
I press a hand to my forehead. With everything going on this weekend, I completely forgot that we were supposed to film at the apartment this morning. “That’s on me. I’ll talk with Erin about it later.”
“She’s on her way down. She says she needs to get something.”
“That’s fine. Let me know when they get here.”
Valerie gives me a thumbs-up and leaves the room. I’ll offer to recreate getting ready for Erin. Hopefully she won’t mind.
But it reminds me that I need to focus so I can be cool and in control in front of the cameras, not stressing about Jordan. I can compartmentalize my worry for him (and, if we’re being honest, the stress about our relationship and where it’s going next) and shift into command mode. I’m the owner of the Denver White Wolves, and this is about to be the most successful reality TV show on television. I’m going to tell my story my way and leverage all of this to do powerful good, the same way my big sisters did. The way they still do now. I’m capable of all that, and people are about to find out.
I might not be feeling cool and calm on the inside, but the outside will never show it. I relax my expression into pleasant indifference and settle at my desk to wait for the crew to arrive.
Erin comes right into my office, and we agree I’ll recreate getting ready in the morning. We also decide I’ll record some confessionals about a few things while we’re here at the office. Maybe this will be the distraction I need to fill the time before I hear from Jordan.
CHAPTER 40
JORDAN
I feel like I’m in a TV show, and part of me wonders if I should have gotten Libby to get a hidden camera on this for the show. We’d probably get tons of extra viewers if we teased that I was part of an FBI sting to bring down Bryce Hayes. I do have a button camera so the FBI can see what I see. Maybe they’ll give us some of the footage.
I don’t have an earpiece, though, since we don’t want Bryce tipped off at all before he sees me. The agents can hear everything that goes down from my phone, and they’ve given me a code word, wolf, to use if I feel like I’m in danger and they haven’t picked up on it. Agent Porter is nearby, looking like a different guy in a T-shirt and baseball cap, earbuds in both ears, and tapping away at a laptop in front of him. Like I thought, he blends in with his average guy looks. Caleb is back in the surveillance van, at least two more agents are at tables surrounding me at strategic points, and the waiter at our table is an agent as well. If Bryce shows up, there’s no way he’s slipping past these guys.
He’s a couple minutes late to the diner we agreed to meet at, but I try not to worry that it means he won’t show. Bryce is desperate for money; that’s obvious, since he agreed to meet me.He wouldn’t turn down a chance to get half a million dollars from me, and I’ve assured myself that nothing in this diner looks amiss. The only time Agent Porter and I have even looked at each other was when I came in and sat down. He gave me a head nod in greeting, and I returned it. Otherwise, I’ve been staring at the window, and he’s been “working.” There’s nothing suspicious to suggest we’re working together, or that I’m working with anyone else in this restaurant. I don’t even recognize any of the other agents here.
“Are you ready to order, sir?” the waiter/agent asks, making me look up from the menu I was pretending to read.
I put it down and make eye contact with him. “I’m waiting to meet someone. Can I get a Coke while I wait?” That will give him a reason to return to the table to check up on this.
“Sure thing.” He pockets the notepad he’d pulled out and disappears into the kitchen. I force myself not to look over at Agent Porter for an update. Have they spotted him outside yet?
My phone rings. It’s the unknown number from last night that Bryce texted me from. I pick up. “Where are you?”
“Can’t make this too easy,” he says smoothly and with an arrogant chuckle. I can’t believe I ever thought this guy was stand-up. He’s slick as a snake. “In case you were lying to me about working with the FBI.”
“I told you I wanted to keep Baylee out of it. Have you already forgotten how protective I am of my sister? They’re going to make me prove she wasn’t involved if they see those documents you have and drag her name through the mud even more.”
Bryce grunts, like that doesn’t sound compelling enough for me not to go to the feds. Guess guys like him don’t understand real love.
