Page 87 of Babies for the Christmas Grump
I scroll through more of the reports, zooming in on a series of these false invoices that don’t add up. I freeze, staring at the list of amounts, each one getting larger as it moves down the page.
What was he up to?
Before I can fully digest what I’m looking at, my phone buzzes. I grab it off the desk, already knowing who it is. The name on the screen is Parriah Investigations.
“Yeah?” I answer, my voice low.
“Ryder,” says Marco, my private investigator, “I think I’ve got something.”
I straighten up, the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. Marco doesn’t waste time.
“What did you find?”
“I’ve been digging into Lang’s personal accounts, like you asked,” he says. “You were right. It’s worse than I thought. Thisguy’s been setting up shell companies under different names. Nothing huge, but enough to divert money from the hotel. I traced one of the accounts back to an offshore bank, and there’s a transfer from one of the hotel’s accounts. A sizable one.”
I clench my jaw. “How sizable?”
“Very. It looks like he’s been building a little nest egg for himself, using the hotel’s funds to pay for it.”
“Damn,” I mutter under my breath, the frustration and anger building in my chest. “How did this happen?”
I’m furious, not at Evie. She was a sweet, trusting woman, and she clearly thought this con man was her friend.
But what an asshole.
Fuck him!
“What was the endgame?” I ask, my jaw clenched.
“I think he was setting Evie up to sell the hotel. He made sure it looked like the place was in financial ruin. She would’ve been desperate enough to sell, and when the time came, she would’ve sold it for a fraction of its value to him. All while Lang was sitting on the sidelines, building his own little empire with stolen money and eventually a hotel he could make a fortune from.”
I slam my fist on the desk, the sound echoing in the quiet room. “That son of a bitch. He was playing her the whole time.”
“Yeah,” Marco says, disgust in his voice. “I’m still digging, Ryder, but you need to be careful.”
I nod, even though he can’t see me. “Yeah, I will be. Speak soon, okay?”
The line clicks dead, and I sit there for a moment, processing. Vincent Lang didn’t just steal money. He stole Evie’s trust.
And that betrayal? It cuts deeper than any financial loss.
I don’t know what kind of man does this sort of thing. But I do know one thing, Vincent Lang’s not going to get away with this.
Not while I’m still breathing.
I’m done playing nice.
Thank goodness I got a lead on this asshole tonight, while rage is still burning through my body.
Vincent Lang is going to be at a high-end gala in the city tonight. An exclusive event, one of those affairs where the rich and powerful come to play their little games.
And, of course, it’s the perfect place for Vincent Lang to mingle with other wealthy people. Maybe even future victims.
So, that’s precisely where I am—in my finest suit, scanning the crowd.
The place is dripping with wealth. Expensive suits, diamond-studded necklaces, and the clink of champagne glasses echoing through the air.
The kind of people who are oblivious to everything outside of their own little world. But not me. I’ve got a job to do.
