Dolly wondered if Taylor had given her the turquoise necklace yet, which he got from Hector Ortiz. “I really like the fact that I can always trust Nash to do the right thing. He is loyal and kind, but I think he might have too rigid an outlook on life for me.”
“You haven’t really given him a chance,” Loretta pointed out.
“There hasn’t been a lot of time. I’ve been so focused on making the UPRC successful so I’ll have a permanent place in the business that there hasn’t been a lot of time for anything else.”
“All jobs are temporary. It doesn’t matter how good you are, sometimes shit happens.”
“Yeah, I’m just worried that if shit happens, I’ll be back at Leisure Industries.”
“No, you won’t. I won’t allow it. We’ve got the Winnebago so you’ll never be homeless and your type of job allows you to work anywhere in the world. If worse comes to worst, you can try and build your brand again. This time not with makeup tutorials or any of that shit. You can do a travel blog about life in an RV. That’s really popular right now.” Loretta flashed her phone at her and scrolled through the reels. “I’m not saying it’s an ideal solution, but it’s one you can do without letting billionaires grope you.”
Dolly chuckled. “They didn’t grope me.”
“That’s because you probably intimidated the hell out of them.”
“Hey,” she said and kicked out at Loretta’s feet. Loretta quickly moved them to the floor.
“And I know that Mom and Dad would let you move in with them until you get back on your feet again. Ask me how I know?” she said sadly.
Loretta had been living with them ever since her divorce.
“I’m worried though if it comes out that I was an escort, LeAnn could lose her sponsorship.”
“If she does, you’ll find her another one.”
“You have a lot of confidence in me,” Dolly said.
“That’s because I’ve seen you in action.”
Dolly nodded. “You know, I feel a little bit better. It’s a huge relief not to have to carry this all alone. I’m going to tell Nash tonight and I think it’s going to be okay. Hopefully, I deleted the only copy of that awful file and by the time Jackson Blevins is out of the hospital, he’ll have other issues to think about.”
“What about his secretary?”
“Debbi hasn’t said anything so far. She might not have seen it. She might not even care.” Dolly thought that was probably wishful thinking, but she didn’t want to dwell on it.
“You should have told me sooner,” Loretta said.
“I couldn’t. I was too ashamed and I didn’t want to disappoint anyone.”
“I’m your sister. I’ll love you no matter what. Don’t you feel the same?”
“Of course I do.” Dolly got up and gave her sister a hug. “But your ass has to be out of here by dinner tonight. Nash and I have a date and hopefully he’ll still be here for breakfast.”
Chapter Seventeen
Nash
The right thingto do was contact Miles about the data from the external drive he had taken from Blevins’s office and get the bureau’s help in figuring out the coded invoice from the Jaripeo Ranch. He was pretty sure that had something to do with the subcontractors who were supplying the Mexican fighting bulls. And possibly the smuggling operation that Hector and Miles were working on. The FBI could also aid in tracking down that offshore account that Debbi had referred to in her phone call with Blevins. So why was he hesitating picking up the phone?
Because Miles was the reason he was no longer an agent and he wanted petty revenge or to feel superior. So he allowed himself a good fifteen minutes of self-righteousness before he got over himself and called the number on the business card Miles gave to Shelby.
“I hadn’t expected to hear from you so soon,” Miles said by way of greeting.
“I’m not backing down from my investigation of Jackson Blevins,” Nash said. “But I’ve got copies of his computer data that you might find interesting in your case. I also overheard a conversation between Miles and his secretary, Debbi Mitchell.” Nash checked the notes he had written up. “She said to him something along the lines of the money will be transferred to the offshore account as soon as it clears. No one will suspect a thing. She’ll delete everything as usual.”
“Interesting,” Garrett said. “Anything else?”
Snitch.