28. West
CHAPTER 28
WEST
While Sydney takes a shower, I do some heavy thinking. I need to get us out of this mess. We’ve been on the run since we met. We need to change who holds the power in this situation. I had to use my credit card to rent the room, and hypothetically, they could track that. But first, they’ll have to find out who the man is who owns a sailboat in Newport. That takes a while to track down since it’s such a big port. Knowing that it takes time to access that information, we’ll be fine for the night. But tomorrow? We need a car. We need somewhere safe to stay.
I need backup, and unfortunately, Fletcher is a little busy doing some investigating on his side of things.
That leaves one person that I know can pull us out of this mess.
I pull open my phone and hit the name. He doesn’t answer. I call again. He finally picks up on the third call. “I thought I told you I was busy, West, so this had better be good.”
“You were the one who sent me this client. You didn’t tell me she was tangling with the mafia.” There’s dead silence at the end of the line.
Finally, he speaks. “In my defense, I did not know it involved the mafia. She said she needed help with a simple research project. I told her you were the guy.” He sounds sincere—or at least as sincere as Bodie can sound.
“Yeah, well, she witnessed a murder and is running for her life. I had to save her, and then she sunk my boat.” That wasn’t entirely fair. It wasn’t her fault…but some. If it’s anyone’s fault, it is probably Bodie’s for giving me a boat that was at risk of sinking. “Oh, and she’s trying to steal an easy few million out from under the mafia’s noses.”
“Wow. She seemed so mild-mannered. Honestly, I’m quite impressed little Sydney had it in her. I love it when people surprise me,” he says thoughtfully. “I’m guessing this is leading up to something?”
“Well, have you ever had any dealings with the mafia?”
Bodie coughs loudly. “Allegedly, someone connected to them purchased a couple of paintings from me. Allegedly, of course.”
“Of course.” I can’t believe I’m about to ask Bodie for help. “Well, they’re here, just outside San Francisco. Sydney and I are stuck here without a car, and we have pretty much zero resources to work with. We need help—or at least a contact. I’ll take an easy billion in cash at this point.”
“How bad is it?”
“I wasn’t sure at first, but I think they’re tracking us through a flash drive that she has—the one that she wanted me to unencrypt. I had it open pretty much the whole time we were sailing.”
“That seems like a rookie mistake, especially for someone like you.”
“Have you ever unencrypted a flash drive while sailing with a chatty passenger? Let me tell you, that’s not easy. And it is definitely not some simple tech project or research project. Fletcher is tangled up in it on his end and wants me to keep her alive until he can get her into witness protection, which is the entire definition of a complicated job. The very thing you promised me this wasn’t!”
I hear a decidedly feminine voice chime in, “That’s right and completely fair, Bodie. You have to admit he’s right.”
“Thank you, Gracen.”
“I can call in a favor,” Gracen’s voice continues. I’ve never actually met Gracen, but I know quite a bit about her. Bodie hired me to do a deep dive into her before they started dating. I learned some interesting things, and Gracen is well-connected, so this is quite a big deal for her to offer a favor. She could actually help us out of this mess.
“What do I have to do in return for this favor?” Because it’s only smart of me to ask.
She did marry Bodie, after all. They might just be two peas in a pod. “I told Bodie he was an idiot for giving you that sailboat,” she says.
I knew I liked Gracen. “How did Bodie get lucky enough to get you?”
“Beats me,” she answers with a laugh. “Send Bodie your information, and I will get you some backup. Besides, Bodie told me about Sydney, and she seems like a sweet, nice girl. I met her briefly and actually liked her. That’s rare for me. She’s probably in way over her head. I’d hate to think of something happening to her.”
“I agree to that. I don’t know what possessed her to take this on. But here we are.” And I aim to see it through.
“Oh yes, here we are,” Bodie says slyly. “Exactly why are you helping her? Is there L in the air?”
“L?”
“Yes, the L word,” Bodie says with a chuckle. “Looooove.”
Even Gracen snickers in the background.
“I’m not interested in getting chained to someone,” I manage to grind out. Doesn’t matter if she’s a bright spot on a dark horizon; I am not linking myself to anyone , not even her.
I’d be constantly keeping her out of trouble, and she’d be dragging me into it. Absolutely not.
“Bodie, I’m done talking with you. I’d like to have an uninterrupted conversation with the brains of your operation.”
Bodie full-on laughs. “Alright. Have at it. Gracen, I’ll go grab us some coffee.”
There’s some shuffling, and I assume it’s Bodie leaving the room.
“Alright, now we can talk business without Cupid here.” Her matter-of-fact tone cements the fact that I like her. Maybe I’ll make her a BFF bracelet.
“You need a ride and some cash. Then you can figure out how you’re going to get out of the mess.”
“Aw, thank goodness. Someone who can get to the point.”
“Tell me where you are, and I’ll have someone there to get you out in the morning. You can return the favor someday. I might need your unique set of skills someday.”
It feels as though I’m making a deal with the devil but I don’t exactly have a lot of other options at the moment. I rattle off the name and location of the hotel. She double-checks distance then tells me she can have her people there by seven in the morning.
There are some things that shouldn’t be questioned. Gracen is one of those things. How does she have people to send? And how did I reach the point in my life that I need to rely on Bodie and his wife for help?
“Oh, by the way, what mafia family did you say it was?”
“Ricci.”