“Why stay?” He frowned as the question sent a nagging pull deep inside his gut.
“What do you mean?”
“In Charlotte,” Coulter brought his gaze back to hisboss. “The last time I spoke to him, we had a solid deal in place. He was supposed to fly back to L.A. last night. Vas was calling the pilot to get the jet ready when they left Alex’s place. I was standing right there when Crawford told Vas he wanted to be wheels-up in less than two hours, so why the change of heart?”
“You tell me.” Price shrugged. “If what you’re saying is true, then something made him decide to stick around. Whatever it was, it had to be worth more than the potential billion-dollar payout he was expecting to get from the auction. Any thoughts?”
Alex.
“Oh, my God.” Coulter pulled out his phone, unlocked the screen, called Alex, and put the phone to his ear. “It’s Alex,” he rushed. “He chose her over the auction. That’s why his plane’s still on the ground.”
“I have eyes on your girl. Two agents followed her from her place to her gallery. She’s had customers come and go, but nothing out of the ordinary has occurred, and Miss Webb is still there.”
“Call them,” he ordered. “Make sure they can still see her. Actually, have one of them go into the gallery.”
“And say what?”
“Whatever they want. They can pretend they’re shopping for a gift for all I care. Just get them inside the building.”
His boss gave a slight roll of her pretty eyes. “They just checked in with me fifteen minutes ago, Coulter. Your girl was with a customer who left with a smile on his face and a painting in his hand.”
“And you and I both know a lot can happen in fifteen minutes.”
Price held his stare a beat before she sighed. “Fine.” His boss pulled her phone from her back pocket.
While she put in the call, Coulter held his phone to his ear and waited. He tried the gallery’s landline first, but when Alex didn’t pick up, he immediately tried her cell.
It rang once. Twice. After the third time, his hope that she’d answer all but disappeared.
A giant fist squeezed his heart as a feeling of impending dread settled deep into his gut. He cursed beneath his breath as the second call he made eventually went to voicemail.
“She’s not picking up.” He spun on his heals and headed for the conference room door.
“Where are you going?”
“The gallery.” Coulter yanked the door open and rushed into the hall. “It’s only a few blocks from here.”
“Agent Morgan?—”
“It’s her,” he growled, stopping cold and turning his entire body around on a dime. “Don’t you get it? Alex is the reason Crawford is here.She’sthe one thing he really wants.”
“What’s going on?” Garrett joined them.
Coulter’s worried gaze slid to his brother’s. He pushed back his fear and said, “I think Alex is in trouble.”
Without missing a beat, Garrett asked, “What do you need?”
“Get the team together and meet us at her gallery.”
“I’m on it.” His brother grabbed his phone to start making the calls. “I’ll have Ashley get ahold of Shadow and Rafe. See if they can meet us there, too.”
“Thanks, brother.” Coulter nodded before continuing his hurried steps down the hall.
He and Agent Price made it to the office’s main door when she put a hand on his arm to stop him.
“Coulter, wait.”
“What?”
