Page 31 of Her Secret Wish

TheI love youshe’d wanted to say then had slipped out today.

The desert sped by her window. She sat in the back of a Tahoe, on her way to find a woman who had run away from her life. Or maybe it was a bachelorette party. The people that had hired LNF weren’t exactly sure. They only knew that they thought she was in Vegas with two of her girlfriends. There had been a fight with the fiancé and she’d stormed off in a huff.

Chad Lowell drove and the new guy, Gabe Carter, sat in the passenger seat. They were a three-man investigation squad looking for three party girls in a city where anonymity was key to everything. Well, no sense in worrying about it before they got there. If the women could be found, they would be the ones to do it.

Rachel had other pressing things on her mind. As she looked down at the cell-phone in her hand, she debated what to do. Should she address the big pink elephant she’d just dropped into their relationship? There was a very good chance Dean hadn’t even noticed the little phrase she’d dropped at the end of the voicemail. And he might have taken it as just a generic goodbye.

No, Dean was a sharp cookie and he knew her. There was no chance she would say that and not mean it. And there was no chance that he hadn’t heard it.

Maybe—for now—she would act as if it hadn’t been said. Then when she got back they could address it if they needed to. The decision wasn’t ideal but it would have to do.

The women were harder to find than they’d thought. Yes, they’d been in Vegas. The team found the hotel they’d been staying in using aliases, but after talking to several hotel employees and receiving different stories, they were at a bit of a standstill. Until they talked to Miguel.

Through a series of conversations they were directed to the night shift valet manager, Miguel. “Oh, yes, I remember those girls very well. They tipped like they were millionaires, but you could tell they weren’t.”

“What do you mean?” Chad asked.

Miguel shrugged, heavy shoulders bunching. “I don’t know. They were too nice. It was like they weren’t used to the money. The guy they were with, though…he was definitely used to the money. That man probably hasn’t said a thank you in his life but he was throwing around the Benjy’s like they were tissues.”

She and Chad exchanged a glance.

“Do you know the man’s name?” Chad asked.

Miguel cocked his head. “Maybe.” The he grinned and waited expectantly.

Chad drew his wallet out of his pocket and handed the man a hundred dollar bill. Miguel’s gaze lingered on the burn scars on Chad’s disfigured left hand for a second before he looked up.

“Oh, yeah,” Miguel laughed. “His name was Peter Wattman. That little brunette was hanging all over him.”

Shit. The little brunette was their runaway, Misti Cokes. Currently engaged to their employer Jarod White. Rachel drew out her cell and sent off a message to Gabe, who was back in the room following some leads via phone.

“Any idea where they went or when they left?”

Miguel scratched his chin, black bristle scraping. He looked at them apologetically. “Not really.”

Chad drew another hundred out of his wallet and handed it over. “Oh, yeah,” Miguel made a motion like he’d just remembered. “I think Wattman said something about flying up to his house in the mountains. Very remote. I can check with my driver but I believe he took them to the airstrip.”

With a sigh, Chad nodded. “Can you check, please? It’s very important that we find this woman.”

Out of the goodness of his heart, Miguel didn’t charge them for the phone call to his driver. “Yup. He took them to the airport two nights ago. The two women who were with the brunette flew east. The dark haired girl boarded a chopper with Wattman.”

Rachel continued to forward the details to Gabe so he could look for the charter company while they finished up here.

Miguel didn’t seem to have any more details so she and Chad headed back to the Tahoe.

“This girl doesn’t want to be found,” Chad said as they pulled out of the parking lot.

“I don’t think so either.”

It wasn’t hard to track Peter Wattman. The businessman was well-known at the airport because he had his own plane and chartered helicopters regularly. He did business in Silicon Valley but played in Nevada, flying back and forth between the two frequently.

Rachel’s gut tightened when she heard that and she wondered if this secluded house was only approachable by helicopter. With her luck it would be.

A text message dinged on her phone from Gabe.History of sticky entanglements with women he’s met on dating sites. Charges filed once for assault then dropped abruptly.

Great. Rachel held the phone so Chad could see the screen and he winced.

“So, are we just going to walk up to his door and knock?” she asked. “Hey, we’re looking for Misti. She ran away from her fiancé. Have you seen her?”

---