"No." Although not a day had gone by when I wasn't waiting for a call or a negative news story about me leaked by someone in the Dunsmore family. Except Dax was telling me it wasn't the Dunsmore family. It was just the father. God. I was the worst. This was the shittiest I’d felt since this whole thing started.
"I don't think he's going to contact you directly, but just in case, I'm going to have somebody from the New York office come over to add an app to your phone that will allow you to record anything if he should call. Like I said, it seems unlikely, but we want to cover all bases."
"What if he doesn't call?" This man had to pay for what he did. I wanted him to pay even more now for what he made me do to Amelia. Not that it alleviated my culpability.
"We have somebody in Vegas who is willing to wear a wire. The thing is, we have to be patient. We can't have her initiate a meeting with him as that would be suspicious."
"Her?" Jesus fuck. My stomach roiled as I realized he had to mean Amelia.
"Like I said, I can't give you any details. You just need to know that we’re still working on this, but we have to wait for him to make the next move."
I shot up from my chair and paced my office as dread filled me. "How will you keep her safe? Do you even know what this man is capable of?"
"Mr. Clarke, you hired us because you know we're the best. I would also caution you against making assumptions about what you think we’re doing. I told you I can't give you details."
His voice was steady, matter-of-fact. It was clear that he had talked to other clients like this before. But he couldn't sway me from knowing that the woman who was going to wear the wire was Amelia. Who else could it be? She was the only one that her father had revealed his scam to. They were hoping he would do it again. But what would he do if he discovered she was trying to set him up?
The idea of his hurting Amelia took all the wind out of me. I sank onto the couch, unable to stay standing. "She's pregnant."
Dax didn't say anything at first. "I say to you again, you hired us because we know what we’re doing."
"If you're doing this because of me, then I want you to stop. I don’t want anybody put in danger because of me."
"As I told you earlier, you're not the only person who has reached out to us regarding Mr. Dunsmore."
So he wasn’t doing this because of me. He’d said I wasn’t the only one wanting Mr. Dunsmore investigated. That had to mean Amelia was the other person. I remembered James asking Noel for Saint Security’s number. He must be helping her, but was he really going to let Amelia take this risk?
"I just wanted to give you an update. We’re in a holding pattern at the moment, but as soon as Mr. Dunsmore makes contact with our subject, I'll let you know."
He hung up before I could say anything.
I wasn’t going to sit here and wait to find out if Amelia's father hurt her. I rose from the couch and grabbed my coat off my chair. I pulled up the rideshare app on my phone to order a car to the airport. I’d made it halfway across my office to leave when the door opened and my parents walked in.
They stopped short when they saw me.
"Oh, are you leaving? Your secretary said you didn't have any appointments right now." My mom looked at me with concern. In fact, both of them looked at me like they were terrified for me. I gleaned quickly that this visit was going to be an intervention. They probably called ahead to my secretary to find out when I had an opening so that they could ambush me.
"I have to go."
My father stepped into my path. "Max. We've been patient, but you have to tell us what's going on. Are you in legal trouble? Are you on drugs? What the hell is wrong with you?”
"Drew." My mother put her hand on my father's arm, not liking his tone.
"I'm sorry, but we've been watching something unfold over the last few months, and I'm tired of waiting for him to tell us what's going on."
My mother nodded. "We have been patient, Max. We know you don't like to share the inner details of your life, but we can see you slipping away from us. We’re not going to let that happen. We’re going to fight for you."
Their words filled me with more guilt, which should have been impossible. I was letting them down. Just like I'd let Amelia down. They were going to fight for me like I hadn't fought for Amelia. But now wasn't the time to tell my parents everything that had gone on.
"I can't right now. I have to go." I stepped between them, moving toward the door.
"Where, Son?" my father asked.
I stopped at the open door for a moment. "To Las Vegas." Then I kept going toward the elevator.
My parents followed me.
"What's in Las Vegas?" my mother asked as she and my father stepped into the elevator with me.