Page 5 of The Perfect Lie
Davian picked his phone up from the table, and I focused on him, awaiting his next move. When he placed the call on speaker before placing it on the table, I was relieved that I would get the answers I needed.
I recognized Kian’s voice as it came over the speaker. “Mr. Cross, I was just about to contact you. I take it that you have seen the news.”
“I have. Can you tell me what happened?”
“It isn’t the way it was reported in the news. Rui Salko found our location. His men shot the two innocent bystanders. When we got word that he was headed to the villa, our only option was to move Mr. Curtis and Ms. Braxton to a different location where they would be safe. In the process, two tourists jogging on the main road got shot. I don’t know how Salko did it, but soon after the shooting, the authorities took Mr. Curtis and Ms. Braxton into custody. Since there was no reason to hold Darius and me, we were let go. Did you know that there was a red notice on them?”
“No, but not even Salko has that much power. Giles Curtis and Louise Braxton did something to warrant a red notice. See what you can find out.”
“Will do,” Kian replied. “There is something else you should know.”
“What’s that?”
“Before the authorities took Mr. Curtis and Ms. Braxton into custody, he said to tell you to watch your back. Don’t trust anyone. Not even Crosby McCall.”
When Davian ended the call, more questions filled my mind. “What do you think they did to warrant a red notice? I don’t even know what that is, Davian. And why would my father say that about Mr. McCall?”
“A red notice is like an international arrest warrant to allow law enforcement worldwide the authority to arrest your dad so he can be extradited back to the States.” Wrapping his arms around me, Davian kissed the top of my head. “I’m not sure what Giles Curtis meant by his comment, princess. But we will find out.”
No one was more capable of finding out the truth than Davian, or rather Patton, since he was the computer genius. I just wasn’t sure if I wanted to know how much involvement my mom had in this. The authorities took her into custody as well, and there had to be a reason. After hearing why she left me, I wholeheartedly believed she felt like she had no other option. Even so, I couldn’t agree with her choices or, for that matter, ever forgive her. I didn’t even want to think about how much my adoptive father was involved in this.
While I was trying to deduce answers to the questions myself, Davian broke my train of thought by taking my hand and pulling me close. “It’s late, and you have been through a lot. Why don’t you go up to bed? I’ll be there shortly.”
Davian was right. I was emotionally drained. I wouldn’t wish the ups and downs of the day on anyone. Hopefully, tomorrow would bring the answers to my questions. Positioned between his legs, I lowered my head and placed a goodnight kiss on his lips. “Don’t be too long.”
~3~
Davian
As I watched Reyna leave, I couldn’t help but think about the weight put on her shoulders in the span of an hour. At every turn, things were going from bad to worse. How much did she have to be put through before she got a break? I could protect her body, but how the fuck was I supposed to protect her heart from all this shit?
Pressing my back against my chair while keeping my eyes on the computer screen, I knew time was ticking, and we were no closer to finding information on Gwen or Reyna’s so-called parents. It was well past midnight, and my patience was deteriorating. At times like these, I wished I had a magic wand to make the answers I was looking for appear. Come to think of it, a magic wand would be useful right now to erase every shitty thing in my life. The only thing I wouldn’t erase was falling in love with Reyna.
Scraping my hands through my hair, I tried to recall every detail of the last 24 hours—Gwen with Salko, Curtis and Louise taken into police custody, and Curtis’s statement about McCall. Somehow all these events had a connection. I just had to figure out what it was. What Patton had said about Curtis and what he said about not trusting anyone, not even Crosby McCall, raised some questions about what he meant. Maybe we were looking at the wrong person. Maybe the focus needed to be on Crosby McCall.
Wheeling my chair closer to the table, I looked over to Patton, “I think we may be looking at this all wrong. Even though I don’t trust Giles Curtis, there had to be a reason he said not to trust Crosby McCall. I think McCall is someone we should be focusing on.”
“You got it.” Patton began pounding the keys, entering what I assumed was information leading to Crosby McCall.
Following suit, I typed ‘Crosby McCall’ in the database software's search field while Patton used his hacking abilities to search for information on the dark web. With both of us searching for information, it would be only a matter of time before we found the truth about Mr. McCall.
Looking back, when I first met Crosby, I thought he was a stand-up guy. But my opinion of him changed when he and my father began working together. Even though my father assured me that their business venture was on the up and up, I still questioned my father’s decision to enter the joint venture. To this day, I still believed that Crosby McCall’s company was a front for something much more than staffing large corporations with highly trained employees. I was beginning to second guess every action I took to bring Reyna and the McCalls together. I should have never taken my father’s advice, knowing full well that Crosby McCall couldn’t be who he appeared to be. He was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. A man not to be trusted.
The information slowly trickled in, and thus far, there wasn’t any new information coming across about Crosby McCall. He was listed as inheriting the McCall Agency, but what wasn’t common knowledge was how it changed from a staffing agency to what one might call an escort service. There was never any question about where the girls that he recruited came from. Looking closer inside his business might shed some light on the unanswered questions I had.
Typing McCall Agency on my keyboard, I glanced over to Patton, who was still waiting for additional information to surface. “I think we might find what we are looking for if we look into the McCall Agency. No one ever questioned Crosby’s business or where he got the girls to staff his agency.”
“I’m one step ahead of you, Davian. It seemed to be the logical search when the initial information on Mr. McCall came through.”
Patton was a good man. He was always one step ahead of me. Even when we were younger, he knew exactly what I was thinking. “I’m going to check on Reyna. Let me know if anything surfaces on the McCall Agency.”
“Will do,” Patton agreeably replied as he focused on the screen in front of him.
When I reached the bedroom, it didn’t surprise me that Reyna was fast asleep. With the low light of the lamp in the corner of the room, I was able to make out the silhouette of her gorgeous curves beneath the silk comforter. Her soft breathing told me that she fell into a deep sleep hours ago. I was sure that her emotional turmoil was the reason behind her exhaustion. I felt it too.
Bringing my cell to life, I typed a quick text to Patton to let him know that I was calling it a night, and he should too. There wasn’t anything more to be done at this hour anyway. As I waited for his response, I undressed and headed to the bathroom for a much-needed shower. The tension my muscles endured throughout the day desperately cried for TLC, and the only way to soothe them was with hot water cascading over them. The downfall was that Reyna wouldn’t be there to help.
As I was about to enter the steamy glass walls of the shower, my cell pinged with Patton’s reciprocating response. Thankful that I didn’t have to fight him on it, I entered the shower and allowed my body to relax. At first, the hot water was like needles against my skin, but the longer I stood under the spray, the more I could feel the tension in my muscles dissipate.
