His gaze traveled over the page, his brain not registering a key piece of information for a few moments. When he saw it, his heart leaped into his throat with excitement.
Annie’s signature line was blank.
Despite what she’d said, there was hope. She did love him or she wouldn’t have left the papers she’d fought so hard for behind.
Crumpling the pages in his hand, Nate turned and marched out of the room. He didn’t know where Annie had gone, but this time he wouldn’t let her get away. He’d track her to the ends of the earth if he had to.
He blazed through the casino, noticing no one and nothing but the path to the restricted area. His heart felt lighter with every step, the situation less grim as the elevator ascended to his suite.
When the elevator doors opened, Nate came to a sudden stop on the landing. He was surprised to find Gabe restraining a visibly pissed-off Tessa in his office. He knew she’d been released on bail that morning, but he certainly hadn’t expected her to return so quickly to the scene of the crime.
“Where is my sister?” Her pale skin was bright red with anger. It looked odd against the fiery auburn of her hair.
“I have no idea. Annie apparently left the hotel after she was eliminated from the tournament. She’s probably flying over Mississippi by now.”
“She didn’t leave, and she isn’t answering her phone. That’s not like her.” Her blue eyes, so much like Annie’s it made Nate’s chest ache, widened with newfound fear. She tugged at Gabe’s grip but this time the head of security let her go. “Jerry. He told me he would do something to her if I mentioned his involvement to the police. I didn’t say anything, though. I knew I couldn’t trust him.”
“Jerry who?” Nate knew Tessa couldn’t possibly be talking about the only Jerry he knew. He was in his seventies with a heart condition. There was no way he’d hurt a hair on Annie’s head, and if he tried, the stress would probably kill him. Annie never bent easily to anyone’s will.
“Casino manager Jerry. He masterminded this whole thing. The bastard set me up so he could blackmail her into taking my place.”
Nate had to take a moment to wrap his head around the idea of his grandfather’s friend as a crook. “Take your place? Was she involved the whole time?”
“No, of course not. Don’t you know Annie at all? She didn’t get hauled into it until yesterday. It’s all my fault.”
The realization hit low to his gut. Yesterday. Everything had changed yesterday after Tessa was eliminated. If Annie had been forced into taking Tessa’s place...that was why she’d left. Why she’d said it didn’t matter how she felt about him because it didn’t change anything. And he’d turned around and signed the divorce papers. He’d fallen for her bluff and now she was in danger.
“Would he hurt her?”
Tessa bit her lip and nodded. “Both Jerry and Eddie have guns. They never got physical with me, but the threat was always there. If they feel like their plan has fallen apart, they just might do anything.”
The loud beep of Nate’s cell phone chirped at his hip. He pressed the radio button and yelled, “Not now,” into the receiver. It didn’t matter who it was or what was wrong at the casino. Right now, only Annie and her safety mattered.
“Yes, now.” It was Jerry’s demanding voice that echoed in the room. “Turn your radio to channel five.”
Channel five was almost never used, and when it was, it was for private conversations. Nate clicked over. “I’m here.”
“You and your wife have ruined all my plans and owe me a lot of money to make up for what I’ve lost. But I’m giving you a chance to fix it. You’re going to come to my hotel suite with a duffel bag filled with ten million dollars. You’re going to come alone and you’re not going to involve the police or hotel security.”
Nate looked quickly to Gabe, who nodded in encouragement, staying silent. “And why, exactly, would I do that, Jerry?”
The old man chuckled over the static of the walkie-talkie connection. “There’s an envelope on your desk. Open it.”
Nate crossed the room to his desk and found the unmarked envelope setting on his blotter. It hadn’t been there earlier. Inside, he found Annie’s wedding ring. “If you hurt her...” he began, but didn’t get to finish his threat.
“I don’t intend to hurt her as long as you do what I say. I intend to get my money and set her free. You’ve got one hour. And remember, I’m monitoring the in-house communications system. If so much as a whisper about this comes up, Annie’s dead.”