I shook my head yes. We went on through our day cleaning and organizing the house. By the end of the day, I had decided that once I got off at 4 pm I was going to head to see Ava at Seals and Bounty. I needed to at least run it by her to see if she thinks it is something that I should be worried about.
I walk into Seals and Bounty and Carol, the office manager and sister to Bryan, is sitting at her desk.
“Emma! It’s so good to see you again!” Carol said as she headed around the desk to give me a hug. I just love this group of people. It is just like working for Grayson. It was a family, a huge extended family.
“Hey Carol,” I said hugging her back. “Is Ava in?”
“Yes, she’s in her office. There is no one in there with her. You can just walk on back,” Carol said.
“Thank you,” I replied.
I walk back to her office and knock on her door.
“Come in,” Ava said.
I open the door and Ava is sitting at her desk with her head in her computer!
“Hey Ava,” I said as I went inside and shut the door.
“Emma! What’s wrong?” Ava asked.
“How do you know there is something wrong with me just saying hey?” I asked.
“Because if it wasn’t work related you would have mentioned it at the house. Come sit down and tell me what’s going on. Is it Wayne? Do you want me to run that background check after all?” Ava asked.
As I sit down in the chair in front of her desk I said, “I am not sure about the background check just yet, but I do need to tell you something and see what you think about it.”
“Okay. You talk and I will listen,” Ava said.
“Last night I was at Wayne’s house for dinner and his best friend Jake shows up. Jake asked Wayne when he came inside where I was, and Wayne said in the kitchen. Then they walked into the living room away from the kitchen. I found it strange, so I walked closer to the room and heard Jake ask Wayne if he had talked to me about going to the mansion. When Wayne said not yet, Jake proceeded to say that he needed to hurry so they can look at the collection and hurry and get out of here. I don’t even know what collection they are talking about, but none of conversation settled well with me so I said goodnight and left them to talk. I am unsure what it all means, but I wanted to bring it to your attention and see what you thought,” I said.
“Oh my! Okay. I am glad you told me and yes, it is suspicious. The collection I believe they are talking about is the art collection that is in the library. It is worth millions. Let me get the team together in the conference room and let’s all discuss this,” Ava said as she stood up from her desk and headed to the door. “I will be right back.”
Oh my gosh. What the hell is Wayne and Jake up to? Is this why he has been dating me?
Ava opens her office door and says, “Emma, come on. We are all meeting in the conference room.”
When we walk in, everyone is there. Wyatt, Kadon, Terry, Derrick, Bryan, Carol and another man and woman that I didn’t know.
Ava said, “Emma you know everyone but our friend Matthew “Wolf” Steele and his wife Caroline. Wolf is still an active-duty Navy SEAL here on leave visiting. It is okay to speak freely in front of them.”
“Okay. Nice to meet you both and sorry to interrupt your visit,” I said.
Wolf replied, “You are not interrupting anything. While we are here, I am happy to offer my services to help these guys anyway I can.”
“Thank you,” I said and went on to tell them everything from the moment I met Wayne.
“Okay, it all sounds like a coincidence in the beginning, but now, Emma, I am sorry, it doesn’t seem that way,” Kadon said. “Carol, can you call Detective Connors and have him come down here. Ava, run that background check on Wayne and Jake….do you know his last name?” He asked looking at me.
“Wayne Carter and Jake Benton are the names they gave me,” I replied.
“Okay. Let’s get started and see what we can find out about these guys. Emma, can you stay and let’s run through everything again and any new information we come up with before Connors gets here with him?” Wyatt asks.
“Yes, I can,” I replied as everyone started to disburse and let me and Caroline in the conference room.
“Mind if I stay with you?” Caroline asked.
“No. I would actually like the company,” I replied.