Page 85 of Packed Up In Vegas

Iwas up to my eyeballs in video editing when the phone rang, the name of my bank flashing across the screen.

“Is this Miss Callie Price?”

“This is she.”

“Excellent.” After a couple of quick identity confirmation questions, the caller said, “I’m calling to let you know that we’ve concluded our fraud investigation into your account.”

“Oh?”

“It does appear that the staff member who handled the authorization and transfer of the account did not in fact check the identification of the woman who was impersonating you. They have subsequently been fired and we have reinstated your access to the account in question. However, because this is now a criminal fraud matter due to the impersonation, the assets within said account are frozen until the criminal investigation is complete.”

Of course.

“And how long does a criminal investigation take?”

“I’m afraid I can’t give you a timeline. Your personal accounts will remain entirely unaffected during this process. Do you have any questions at this time?”

“How can I access the money when the investigation is over?”

“The bank will be in contact with you and provide instructions. I’m very sorry for all the trouble. We’ll be sending you an email shortly with all of the relevant information, and law enforcement will handle things from here.”

“All right, thank you.”

I hung up with a sigh. At least things were moving forward even if I still couldn’t access the money. I logged into the account out of curiosity to see how much damage might’ve been done.

“Motherfucker.”

“What’s happening?” Kai asked, appearing in my doorway. “Felt you getting twitchy through the bond.”

“I got the account back, but I can’t do anything with it while they investigate. It looks like Jerry’s already spent about forty grand.”

“What an asshole. I would ask what the hell he spent that much money on in such a short time, but we did leave him with a pretty barren apartment after taking out all the things you bought.” Kai sat down next to me, wrapping an arm over my shoulders. “How are you feeling about all of it?”

I shrugged. “Mostly annoyed. It was my own fuckup, but any decent person would’ve contacted me before spending the money.”

Kai kissed my temple. “I’m sorry to say it, but your taste in lovers before us has not been the best.”

“You’re not wrong.” I updated him on everything I had been told.

“They could get in some serious shit over this. It’s pretty hefty jail time for bank fraud and identity theft.”

I didn’t necessarily want Jerry and Katrina to go to jail; I just wanted them to get out of my fucking life and give back the money they stole. They could’ve just screwed me over emotionally and left it at that, but apparently Jerry wasn’t content with that.

My phone rang again, his name appearing.

Speak of the devil.

Kai and I watched it ring and I made no move to answer it.

“What do you think he wants?” Kai asked.

“Probably pissed he doesn’t have free access to everything. Honestly, he has bigger things to worry about now.”

A moment later, there was a voicemail.

“Should I listen to it?”

“Only if you want to. Want me to listen for you?”

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