Page 4 of Chasing Paradise

But no matter how many times I read it, the same words jumped out at me.

Securities fraud.

Insider trading.

Missed court date.

Fivemilliondollar bail.

If my eyes had been seeing dollar signs with Frat Guy, they were spinning like a slot machine at this one.

“What percentage is the bondsman offering?”

“Ten.”

Ten.

That was half a million dollars.

“Give me that,” I said, reaching for the duffle.

Tacos, it seemed, were going to have to wait.

CHAPTER TWO

Violet

“What the hell was the bond agent thinking?” I asked as my gaze slid over the file.

“I guess that he had the money, just not access to it at the moment.” My mom sat on the other side of my desk, legs kicked up, twirling her karambit around her pointer finger. “From what I can tell, he moved his money offshore right before the law closed in. The DOJ tried to seize his assets… and they weren’t there.”

“Still, that’s a hell of a risk on the bond agent’s part.”

“Apparently, the guy is a real charmer. Which shouldn’t be a problem for you.” She shot me a smirk.

I mean, yeah. I did have a bit of a reputation for having an innate distrust of charming men. One might be able to trace that back to my first boyfriend who may or may not only charmed me out of my v-card, but damn near every other girl in our class. While he was still ‘dating’ me.

So, yeah, I hated a guy who was too charming.

“I’m gonna enjoy bringing him in. Do we have any idea where he might be?”

“Florida. I know, I know,” my mom said, holding up a hand.

“I mean, come on. If he’s in Florida, he’s totally going to South America.”

And while countries like Ecuador and Venezuelatechnicallyhave extradition treaties with the U.S., they are notoriously selective on if they would honor them or not.

If this guy wanted to hop a private plane or boat and disappear, it was entirely possible.

Even if I followed and found him, bounty hunting was illegal in almost every other country in the world. I could put all the work in and not be able to collect my bond. If not end up in trouble with the law myself.

“Listen, there are always ways around difficult situations. Your father has a lot of contacts in that part of the world. People who would look the other way as they brought you back to the U.S. You have options. If you’re motivated enough.”

With that, she got out of her seat, pointedly placing my packed duffle bag there, then making her way out of the office.

Alone, I sat back in my chair, exhaling hard.

If—and it was a big if—I decided to do this job, it would be a metric ton of work and aggravation. But it would allow me to take as long of a break as I wanted. Or sock it away for an early retirement.

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