Page 50 of Off Limits (Alpha Billionaire)

“Please work, please work, please work,” I repeated as I picked up my phone and looked at the screen. I had one bar. One.

It said I had messages, but all it gave me were those three little dots like a message was incoming.

I hitDialon Dylan’s number. It wouldn’t go through. No ringing, nothing. But the phone said I had one bar. My stomach twistedand I felt the burn of tears in the back of my throat before my eyes started to sting.

“Damn it.”

Brushing the tears from my eyes, I tried to look around. Everything was flat. We were out of the valley. The air had that vegetable smell. It smelled of farmland. Had that man driven all the way to the end of the valley and back around? What had I missed while I was asleep?

What the hell was I supposed to do? I kept spinning, trying to figure out which way I should go.

23

DYLAN

Iwas getting nowhere. My stress was spiraling. There was nothing I could do. Jessica was out there somewhere, and I didn’t know what I could do.

What had I overheard when I called Ryan? Was he at a hotel? It could have been a drive-thru.

I pulled over. Driving in circles wasn’t helping me to think. What was it? My stomach roiled and I had the shakes. I needed to know Jessica was safe, and it was killing me that I didn’t.

My phone rang. “What?” I snapped.

“I have an idea that might work,” Sarah said with a giggle. “I can’t believe I’m telling you this, but Ethan just told me this is how he would prank one of his friends to find out where they were staying if they wouldn’t tell him. You know seventeen-year-olds aren’t good for too much, but a good prank, yeah, I’m going to listen to my son.”

“Your son thinks he can find out where… you know what, why not? What’s this prank?”

I could hear her moving the phone around. She yelled at her son, and then they were both on the line. “Okay, Dylan, you’re on speaker phone. Ethan, tell him what you told me.”

“Hey, Mr. Anderson. I was just joking. You really want to know this?” Ethan asked.

“Yes, tell me.” It took everything I had not to shout.

As Ethan started talking, I could hear Sarah giggling in the background. This kid was brilliant.

“That’s devious,” I said.

“Trust a seventeen-year-old to come up with such a scheme.” Sarah chuckled.

“But look, it only works if what you’re offering is what they want. Apparently, some people don’t eat pizza.” From the tone of his voice, it sounded like he had to be glaring at his mother.

“Too many carbs,” Sarah said, confirming my suspicion.

“It would work best if you had a big ticket item you could also give them, like… ah… Smartwatch, maybe?” Ethen suggested.

“Oh, like an iPad,” Sarah added.

“I think he has a smart watch and can afford his own iPad,” I said.

“He’s rich?” Ethan asked.

“I think so,” I said.

“Look, no offense, Mr. Anderson, but rich people are greedy. They take more than they ever need.”

“Ethan!” Sarah chastised.

“No, he’s right. I know more rich people who got that way because they took more than their fair share. What’s your point?” I asked.

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