Chapter 9
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When Naomi went to bed that night, she had to admit it was nice to have somebody around, somebody else to talk to, somebody she hit it off with, just nice to have another adult in her world.
She was dragging her heels about going to bed, but, when she finally did go, she woke up several hours later to hear Trent on the phone.
She got up, tiptoed out, and couldn’t explain why she was listening in. It was pure instinct. And that was the only thing she could think of. She heard him talking to someone, and it seemed Oakley was on the other end of that call.
“I know, but I didn’t know who it was,” Trent shared.
“I didn’t get a good look at him, but I have a good idea what direction he was heading.
” He listened in for half a minute. “I have to talk to the lawyer tomorrow anyway.” Then he said, “Hang on.” He got up, came around the corner, and saw her standing there.
He smiled and asked her in an undertone, “Everything okay?”
She nodded. “Except for one thing.”
“What’s that?” he asked, tilting his head to the side, eyeing her curiously.
“What are you keeping from me?” When he hesitated, she frowned and shook her head. “Remember that part about my ability to tell when someone’s lying?”
He sighed and pointed behind him. “Come on out into the living room.” Then he ended his call with Oakley and sat her down. “I did see somebody. And I didn’t know why or if anything was going on that involved you and Ricky,” he began, “but he went to the lawyer’s office building.”
“As in, Bugatti’s office?”
He nodded. “Now that’s a huge office building, and lots of people have offices there.
So, I have absolutely no way of knowing if he was looking for me, whether he was after you or anything else,” he clarified.
“However, I plan to go to the lawyer’s office later this morning anyway, and I plan to ask him if there is any reason for having you followed. ”
She stared at him, stunned for a moment. “There would be no reason unless he didn’t trust whatever was happening.” She frowned. “I can see how Ricky’s family would not necessarily be delighted about handing out money or having a kidnapping drug-running incident, bringing up their name.”
“Right, and that is what I want to talk to Bugatti about, but I want to go alone,” he stated pointedly.
“Be my guest,” she muttered. “I have zero interest in going back there. In person, he’s slimy. Even over the phone, he always makes me feel like I’m in the poorhouse, begging for money. It’s not that I have that much contact with him, but it’s always about money.”
“What kind of money?”
“Well, like that one school event, and I didn’t see that as something that I should be paying myself.
So, when I sent all the details to him, he asked for a little bit more information, and then he just sent the money.
So, I think the next thing was Ricky needed to go to the dentist. And again, that needed to be dealt with, plus the related paperwork, but it seemed like I’m the one justifying a request for money instead of him just giving me the funds,” she explained.
“And maybe that is more on me than on him. He’s a lawyer, and he handles a lot of different clients,” she conceded, with a shrug. “So, from that perspective, I guess I just feel bad because I have to ask for additional money.”
“Understood,” Trent noted. “Anyway, that’s what I was hiding from you because I didn’t want to tell you that I wasn’t sure what was going on. Thus, I don’t have answers yet.”
“Well, it would be better if you would just tell me if something’s bothering you because I do get those very strong instinctive reactions when I feel something is wrong.”
“So, we’ll do that going forward,” he stated, nodding in agreement. “Now, go back to sleep. It’s all fine.”
“And yet, if nothing is going on and nothing is going wrong, there shouldn’t be any need for you to stay with us. So, I presume”—she frowned—“I presume you’re leaving soon.”
“You trying to get rid of me already?” he asked in a teasing tone.
“No,” she declared. “It’s been really lovely to have you here, and it reminds me just how isolated the two of us have been, and that’s not good.”
“No, it’s not,” he confirmed. “You do need to have some social life and some interaction with people besides a six-year-old.”
“And yet it’s the job.”
“It is the job, and I get that. However, the job should give you a break or a holiday or a bit of relief too,” he pointed out.
“I get that as well, but I am under contract.”
He nodded. “I’ll ask Bugatti about the conditions of your contract when I’m there tomorrow.”
“Don’t do anything to rock the boat, please,” she entreated, trying to hide her panic. “Ricky’s already gone through enough right now. I don’t want him feeling like these kinds of questions will have him taken away from me.”
“I understand,” he replied. “I get that and do know it’s a huge concern for you.
That is not what I am trying to do at all.
However, it’s also not realistic that you’ve been here all these years without a day off, without holiday pay or even holidays.
There are actually laws in this country about things like that. ”
She laughed. “I don’t know if there are when it comes to this kind of contract,” she noted. “Anyway, don’t make an issue out of it, please.”
He raised both hands. “I won’t. I’ll just ask Bugatti.” When she immediately groaned, he added, “Nicely. I’ll ask him nicely.”
She shook her head. “Honestly, I didn’t even read it. So it’s probably on me if there’s a whole pile of stuff in there that’s not terribly fair. I would have signed it at the time, not thinking in terms of a long-term commitment,” she muttered. “So it won’t be on them. It’ll be on me.”
He laughed. “It’s all good. Don’t you worry about it. I’ll take a glance through it again and see if they’re living up to their side of it. Believe me that Bugatti, as a lawyer, will understand an employment contract and the laws of the land very clearly.” Or he should, Trent told himself.
“Right,” she muttered, feeling somewhat better. “I guess that makes sense, doesn’t it?”
“It makes a whole lot of sense,” he stated. “So don’t worry about it.” And, with that, he leaned over, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and quipped, “Now, be a good girl and go back to bed.”
She rolled her eyes. “That will hardly get me to go to bed,” she declared. “Could it possibly have been any more patronizing?”
He chuckled. “But now you have something else to think about.”
“Such as?” she asked, frowning at him.
“The kiss.”
She scoffed. “That wasn’t a kiss,” she clarified. “That was a peck on the cheek, like you were sending your daughter off to bed.”
“Well, I certainly don’t have fatherly feelings about you,” he shared as he looked at her. “I don’t know if you have any idea how good you look, but it’s something that’s been catching my attention since I first met you.”
“When you first met me,” she reminded him, “I was wet, windburned, swollen, bruised, and tied up in steel cable to boot. Not to mention pissed off. Plus, I can only imagine what I smelled like. I was a stressed-out disaster, and honestly, I’ve been a bit of a mess ever since.
” She brushed her hair back in an attempt to straighten her bedhead look.
He chuckled. “You are absolutely adorable, just as you are,” he told her. “Please don’t change one little bit. … Now,” he added, “before I decide to push that level of adorableness a little further, go back to bed, and we’ll talk tomorrow, … after I speak to the lawyer.”
She smiled. “Okay, but, just so you’re aware, you could be up for a much deeper conversation than you may be thinking.”
His facial expression was one of surprise … and added interest.
And, with that, she entered her bedroom and shut the door on him.
*
Trent got up the next morning, had breakfast with Naomi before he headed for the lawyer’s office.
When he arrived, the receptionist asked for his name, then checked the logs.
When she finally looked up, an expression of unease took over her face.
“You don’t have an appointment, so he can’t see you. ”
“When can I get an appointment?” he asked, deciding to try the more conventional approach first.
“Not for several months.”
“That won’t work for me,” he stated, putting his badge on her desk.
She sniffed, totally disregarding this tactic. “You didn’t come with his client. So, from a legal standpoint, Mr. Bugatti is not obligated to talk to you.”
Just then the door to Bugatti’s inner office opened, and another client walked out. Trent stared at him and then back at the unyielding receptionist and smiled sweetly. “I could cause a scene because Bugatti’s refusing to see a special agent,” he announced, his voice a little bit loud.
At that, the other client frowned at him, glanced at the receptionist—ignoring her panicked expression—and asked Trent directly, “Is there a problem?”
“Maybe,” Trent replied, “but I have to talk to Bugatti in order to see if there’s any trouble or not.”
The receptionist immediately turned all shades of red and explained, “There’s no problem, but there aren’t any appointments available.”
The lawyer stepped out now, having clearly heard the exchange, and motioned Trent in.
“It’s fine,” Bugatti replied to everyone in earshot, with the weariness of somebody who’s just way too busy but needed to find space for yet one more headache.
He addressed his receptionist and reiterated, “It’s fine.
I’ll speak to him.” Then he turned with a stiff nod to the gentleman just leaving, “It’s all good, Johan.
Just a special agent with his own problems.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Johan huffed.
Bugatti added, “No need to be rude, Johan.”
“Who am I to say anything when everyone seems to think their stuff is special,” Johan snapped. “Not everybody’s is, … except mine,” Johan added, with a chuckle as he headed out.
Bugatti shook his head and retreated to his office.