Page 17 of Wilde In His Arms

ARIA: I hate that I miss you so much.

NICK: I hate that you have to miss me, but I love it that you do, because I miss you.And I wish you were here.Or I was there.

He didn’t get an answer and he finally understood why.Because if he wanted to be with her, he knew where she was and he should get in his fucking car and go be with her.

Saying it wasn’t enough.

She wanted more.He wanted more.

He needed to show her he wanted a life with her.

Chapter eight

Itdidn’ttakelongfor Nick to track down information on Javier Lopez and his recent illegal activity.After the raid that went wrong and Javier got away, Javier stayed under the radar for quite some time.Now it seemed he felt comfortable sticking his head out and doing business as usual.

And today could be the day he finally got what he needed to take Javier down for good.

“ASAC Gunn, this is Agent Hayward from Utah.I’m calling about the voicemail you left me about the case you worked on six years ago, involving Javier Lopez.”

“Please tell me you have him in custody.”

“Not yet.I’ve been picking up whispers over the past year.Sightings.Talk about parties he’s throwing with very young party favors for very discreet and wealthy guests, who have particular tastes.”

Yeah, Nick knew all about Javier’s penchant for supplying underage girls and boys to the highest bidder and setting up dates in motel rooms.That’s where he’d last seen Javier, at an upscale hotel where shit went bad.At least they saved six young girls, all of them between twelve and fourteen.It had been a virgin auction.

Just the thought of it made his stomach roll.

“Word is you had some contact with the sister.”Hope sounded in Hayward’s voice.

“Yeah.She wasn’t a lot of help.They hadn’t seen each other in a long time, according to her.”But Nick had stayed in touch with her for weeks leading up to the attempt to arrest Javier.

“She’s worked her way up in the world and is now managing the cleaning staff at a private ski, golf, mountain biking resort.When I say private, I mean exclusive.Gates with guards.A private airstrip.All the best amenities.They cater to celebrities, the overly wealthy, those with household name recognition, heads of businesses, and tech moguls.You know, the elite who think they’re untouchable.”

Sounded like a nice place for the rich to play.But he had a bad feeling about what else the resort could be offering to their very particular members.

“Julia Lopez was never tied to her brother’s business.”From what Nick remembered, she despised her brother.

“I’m not saying she is now.But it’s really interesting that she’s got access to a resort that isn’t open to the public.Especially since we’ve raided two other members-only clubs here in Utah that we think have connections to Javier Lopez.Rumor is the Montana resort is on his circuit, too.”

That was the thing with traffickers, they moved their product around.City to city.State to state in a circuit.Local police or even FBI would hear about something popping up, then they’d be gone before they could be raided.

Agent Hayward continued.“You’ve got a connection to her.You could ask some questions, feel her out.Check out this place.If they are working out of the private resort, it’s the perfect setup.We could try to get someone inside.Someone close to her.”

Nick shook his head, even though Agent Hayward couldn’t see him.“It could take months for an undercover to get her to open up and reveal something.If she’s anything like she used to be—afraid of her brother, suspicious of anyone asking about him—she’ll be too guarded to let anything slip, let alone be willing to talk to someone about him.She made it clear she wanted nothing to do with him or his business.But let me feel her out.Maybe something has changed.”

Agent Hayward let out a relieved sigh.“I was hoping you’d say that.”

“I want Lopez in a cell for the rest of his life.”

“You and me both.I also want to find out where he’s keeping the kids, how many he has, and where.We know he’s operating several groups, more than the two we’ve busted here in Utah.My guess is he’s working Idaho and Montana right now, staying out of Utah until things cool down.I want him.This fucker deserves everything that’s coming to him.”

A cell would be too nice a punishment for someone like Javier Lopez.“I want to finally take him down.Send me whatever you have on him, including his sister’s updated information.I’ll look it over, then let you know when I can make contact.”He rattled off his email address, then hung up.

And like he’d done every day since he left Aria’s place, he pulled out his phone and called her.

Of course, she didn’t answer.She never answered anymore, probably because the last time he communicated he’d ruined her date by simply reminding her how good they were together and no one else would make her feel the way he made her feel.Arrogant.Yes.But true.And he wasn’t giving up.

“Hey, sweetheart, it’s me.I miss the sound of your voice.I miss hearing about your day.I miss you so damn much.At this point, I’d settle for another text.Until then, I’m working on being closer to you.I have a meeting with my boss to talk about options.I’m not giving up on us.Have a good night at the bar, sweetheart.”I love you.He never said it to her in his last four messages, because he’d never said it to her face.If you were going to say that to someone for the first time, it should be in person, while you looked them in the eyes.And he wanted the chance to make this right, to give her everything she wanted and deserved.Soon.He couldn’t wait, because his impatience was growing and so was the number of days he’d been without her.Again.

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