Page 41 of Coming Up Aces

“Now what?” Regina started the car after putting on her seatbelt.

“Now, I’m going to call Seth’s wife, Vanessa. Can I borrow your phone, since mine’s…” Rayna thumbed over her shoulder. Regina unlocked her phone and passed it over. Rayna dialed the salon’s number, expecting the receptionist to answer.

“Blue Rhapsody Salon and Day Spa, Vanessa speaking.”

“Vanessa, it’s R—”

“Well, hello Rachelle. How are you? Good, good. Are you ready for your touch-up?”

“Uh, yes? Is there any way I can come see you today?” Rayna asked, deepening her voice.

“No, I’m afraid I’m fully booked today. I might can get you in next week. Let me check my appointment book.” The sound of footsteps came through the phone. “Let’s see, I have Tuesday at ten or two. Would one of those work for you? Okay. I’ll put you down for two. See you then.” With that, the call went dead. Rayna pressed Regina’s phone against her forehead.

“What was that about?” Regina asked.

“That was my best friend being stealthy.”

“Which means someone was there listening in, or her phone is tapped.”

“Yep. I’ll have to go see her in person. If I wear the prosthetic Lucy gave me, I should be able to do so with Grissom being none the wiser.”

Regina tapped the steering wheel. “Or I could go. Scope out the shop and see if anyone is there. I could pass her a note if there is.”

“I don’t want you on the FBI’s radar.”

“Meh, you let me worry about that. I’ve had more action this week than I’ve seen in years. It’s kind of exciting.”

“That’s right. You were in the loft with Glory at Haven.”

“You know about that?”

“I was there, watching as everything unfolded. Asher also told me how you took care of Glory’s father too.”

“Damn. I need to have a talk with my son about spilling my secrets,” Regina chided.

“I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

“I know you won’t, Rayna. If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t let you anywhere near Asher. He’s special to me.”

“And to me, considering he’s my mate. Let’s get back to the clinic and regroup. I want to check on Ash before we head out of town.”

“Where exactly is Vanessa’s salon?”

“New Latham. Not too far.”

When they got back to the clinic, Sutton was there with his mate, Rory. Like Regina, Rory appeared young, when in fact, she was a great-grandmother. Rayna had only allowed herself to think about having children. She’d never considered living long enough to have grandkids. She couldn’t wait, especially knowing how much Asher wanted children.

Asher squeezed Rayna’s hand. “You were gone a while.”

Rayna blew out a breath. “Yeah. I decided to check the burner to see if I had a message from Seth.” Rayna explained the texts and the deputy director answering Seth’s phone.

“Do you think Seth’s in trouble?” Asher asked.

“I do because I called Vanessa, and she pretended I was a customer as though someone were listening in.”

“That doesn’t explain why you were gone so long.” Asher didn’t sound upset, just curious.

“Well, we had an adventure of sorts,” Regina admitted.

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