Page 28 of Collateral Damage

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“Exactly.” Memories of one afternoon, in particular, sprung to mind. “This one time, Sofia and I went with Mom to Katherine’s small makeup studio. I can’t remember what we did that made mom yell at us, but Katherine would hit us with a rubber band gun when we weren't looking. There were others in there, and it took a while to figure out who was doing it. Katherine’s poker face is legendary.”

“Oh wow, I think I love her.”

“She’s amazing. I could have sent her to another one of our houses and hired a few nurses to care for her, but I had a feeling she would hit it off with Vincenzo, at least eventually.” He grinned. “I thought about visiting her after the ransom is over, but if Vincenzo is calling and complaining, I don’t want to give him an excuse. He needs to get out of his own way and realize he’s interested in her. She’s just not what he’s used to, and he’s been alone for a long time.”

Our fingers entwined as the shrill ring from my phone shattered the peacefulness around us. I answered without looking at the caller ID. Allen’s voice grated through the speaker: “I know you have her.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

HAILEY

The glow from his phone highlighted the hard glint that had entered Trey’s eyes, and I froze. He either hated whoever was on the other end of the line or had just gotten bad news. I shivered—not from the cold but in anticipation of his reaction.

“Justin snitched.”

What?My head snapped back. I couldn’t have heard him correctly.

“Interesting.”

It had to have been Allen on the other end of the line. A mix of anger and fear warred inside me, and I pressed my lips tightly together to maintain my silence.

Trey paused to listen to whatever Allen had to say. At least I knew who he was talking to. I was also confident that Allen wouldn’t go to the police with what Justin had allegedly told him. Allen hadn’t so far. It would only shed light onto his crooked business dealings.

“I have plenty of ways to keep Hailey here.” Allen must have replied during the silence. “The terms stand.” Trey disconnected the call with a slow, menacing smile. “Seems your friend ratted you out, and right before the ransom is due.”

I stood at a precipice of uncertainty, my heels inches from the waves breaking on the edge of the shore. Justin would never have sold me out. We’d been friends for years, and he’d always been there for me, no matter what mess I’d found myself in. “It couldn’t have been him.”

Trey grasped my arms, anchoring me to the present. I could barely make out his expression with the silvery glow of the moon and stars overhead our only source of light. Our perfect evening slipped from the tips of my fingers. We wouldn’t be able to stay the night, and I felt the loss of what I would have experienced in his embrace vanish, all from one phone call that had changed everything—again.

Allen was bad juju. There was no way around it. He was a problem.

“He won’t do anything.” Trey’s deep voice sent a shiver of awareness down my spine as he pulled me close. “I promise you’ll be safe.”

Cocooned in his embrace, my concern faded, and I let him carry the burden, if only for a short while. But that wasn’t my way. I was used to taking charge. I had been responsible for myself for most of my life.

I stepped back. “Something is very wrong if Justin went to Allen. I can’t imagine why he wouldn’t have called me if he had doubts about my safety with you. That’s the only reason why he would call Allen.”

“Do you have your phone on you?”

Goose bumps danced over my skin in a rush of adrenaline-fueled alarm. “I don’t. It flew out of my hand when we were shot at. It’s lying on the sidewalk in front of the boutique. I heard the crack when it hit the ground, and we were moving fast. I forgot about it in the heat of the moment.”

“You trust him?” The skepticism in Trey’s voice was loud and clear.

“One hundred percent.” He had no reason to trust Justin, but I’d known him forever. We’d been through more than two friends should in a lifetime: the loss of my sister and dad, Mom’s remarriage, a horrible breakup in college, a few failed relationships of his, and my sense of failure after dropping out of MIT. I had no doubt that he had my best interest at heart. Justin was my ride or die.

“He must have tried calling you and panicked.”

“I’m sure that’s what happened. I need to get ahold of him.” I held out my hand. Trey pulled his phone from his pocket, unlocked it, then passed it to me. Good thing I had Justin’s number memorized. With the phone pressed to my ear, I paced along the shore. I could feel Trey’s eyes on me the entire time.Come on, pick up.

When the call rolled into voicemail, I used the time the best I could. “Justin. I lost the phone. It was a total accident. I’m fine. I swear it. This is Trey’s number. Allen called.He knows. I don’t know how much, but he knows I’m with Trey.Please call me. I need to find out what you told him. I’m not mad. Promise.”

After disconnecting, I handed back Trey’s phone. My stomach was in knots. I knew Justin, and once he heard my message and realized he’d screwed up, he would beat himself up about it. The guy took things way too hard. I knew we would find a way to salvage the situation so that the kids would still get the money and Allen wouldn’t have access to it. I had faith in my new accomplice.

But that meant we had to leave and do damage control. “We need to go back home.”

“It would be wise,” Trey murmured. He curled his hand around mine and pulled me in the direction of the restaurant, where we’d left the car. “We’ll have to change our tactic with Allen. I’ll continue to pressure him for the ransom with the angle that you’ll be harmed. In the meantime, we’ll follow the money trail.”

“I need a computer.” I should have been working on that all along. I let myself get distracted by having Allen withdraw the cash, but Trey was right. We needed to take down wherever he was stowing his nest egg of Mom’s money.


Tags: Amy McKinley Romance