Page 64 of Return to McCall

The door swung open before she touched it to reveal a tall woman in a pinstripe suit standing in the doorway who looked Alex up and down slowly without meeting her eyes. She was beautiful in a nondescript way, like someone everyone met but no one remembered. “Are you Alejandro?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Alex smiled.

The woman did not smile back. “Travis is waiting for you.” She stepped back from the door to allow Alex in, flipped the five deadbolts back into place, and walked toward the marble staircase in the foyer where she turned at the first step. “Do you have any weapons on you?”

“No, ma’am.”

She looked at her for a moment before she finally spoke. “Hold your arms out straight.”

Alex raised her arms to shoulder height and held them out while the woman ran her hands down her sides and up the insides of her legs to her groin. She grazed the packer, and Alex was happy she hadn’t thrown it into the lake like she’d wanted to after what had happened with Lily.

The woman didn’t say anything, just turned around and led Alex up two flights of stairs to a marble landing, then down a short hall with sparkling crystal chandeliers and a Turkish carpet runner in shades of garnet and royal blue. She knocked on the last door on the left, then held it open for Alex and closed it behind her as she left.

“Hey, Alejandro, right?” A man older than Alex was expecting stood and came around the front of the desk, hand extended. “I’m Travis. We spoke on the phone.”

Alex shook his hand, then followed his invitation to sit in one of the black velvet chairs across from the desk. The office was opulent but tasteless, and a black semiautomatic handgun was clearly visible in a leather tray on the bookcase behind him.

Alex forced herself to look away from the gun and dragged her eyes back to Travis. “It’s great to meet you. Thanks for seeing me while I’m in town.”

“You’re from Miami, right?” Travis’s gaze dropped to the Rolex on Alex’s wrist, then directly to her shoes. “I took a look at your clubs online. I think you may have the life I’ve always wanted.”

“If you love being surrounded by beautiful people and obscene amounts of money, that’s probably true.” Alex laughed and forced herself to make eye contact like a man with nothing to hide. “But I come to McCall a few times a year, mostly in the winter to ski and get away from the city. That’s why I was referred to you. It’s more discreet than using local girls who might know people.”

“Understood.” Travis leaned back in his tufted leather office chair. “I used to own a modeling agency in California, but obviously with my current focus, I needed a home base that was a bit more discreet as well.” He offered Alex a drink from the bar before pouring himself a double vodka on the rocks and returning to his desk. “Let’s get the basics out of the way before we start talking about what you’re looking for. I assume Miranda patted you down when you arrived?”

“She did. Although I’ve had more enjoyable pat downs, I’ve got to say.”

Travis smiled. “Miranda is all business.” He gestured toward a framed photo in the bookcase of a much younger Miranda, arms around Travis, in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Her hair was blowing around her face, and her cheeks were flushed the same shade as the rose-colored sunset behind them. “Or at least, she is now. She started as a model in the late nineties, then became a talent scout with my agency when she aged out.” He leaned toward the phone on his desk and pushed a button. “Miranda, would you come up here please?”

It was only a few seconds before she knocked lightly on the door and slipped into the office again. Travis nodded in Alex’s direction. “If you could do a wire check for Mr. Suarez, I’d appreciate it.”

The silence in the room was heavy, and Alex was very aware of her breath as she stood, stepped away from her chair, and faced Miranda. This time, Miranda made eye contact as she swiftly unsnapped the front of Alex’s denim shirt, exposing Alex’s abs and the center portion of her chest. Alex transferred the sunglasses to the front pocket and looked at the ceiling. There was fuck-all she could do about it now. If Miranda hadn’t figured out Alex was a woman yet, the nipple tape barely hidden by the front panels of her shirt would be a dead giveaway.

“She’s just checking you for any type of listening or recording devices,” Travis said, downing the vodka without a flinch. The ice settled with a hollow clink in the bottom of his glass as he pushed it to the edge of his desk. “I’m sure you underst

and the need for discretion in these situations. Unfortunately, not everyone has the same tastes that we do.”

Miranda checked both of Alex’s ears for listening devices, then slid her hands around from her abs to the small of Alex’s back, checking just under her belt with her fingers, then sliding them around to the front. She looked again at Alex’s chest, then met her eyes once again. When she stepped back, Alex looked down to button her shirt back up, and her heart stopped. The tape over Alex’s right nipple had been clearly visible, although her shirt must have hidden it from Travis’s view.

Travis, ice tongs in his hand, peered at Miranda as if silently reminding her of something she already knew.

Miranda held out her hand. “I’ll need your phone.”

Alex’s heart sank to her stomach as she pulled it out of her back pocket. She felt the room close up in the span of one second, and a fine mist of sweat broke out across her face.

Travis got up and headed for the row of liquor decanters behind him in the bookcase bar. “She’ll give it back, don’t worry. She just needs to make sure it’s off while you’re here.”

Miranda turned the phone over in her hand and found the button to power off the device, holding it up for Travis to see as it powered down. He pulled his own phone out and clicked a button on the screen. He held it to his face for a few seconds before clicking the speaker. The outgoing message that Alex had recorded in Spanish and English filled the room for a few seconds before Travis ended the call.

“Just checking that it’s off, and it is.” He laid his own phone on the desk. “You can give it back to him.”

Miranda started to give the phone back, but it slipped out of her hand and tumbled to the ground. She picked it up and handed it back before she looked back at Travis. “She’s clear.” She paused, a flash of something moving across her eyes that Alex didn’t recognize. “I mean, he’s clear.”

The room fell silent, and Alex stopped breathing for the split second it took Travis to laugh. His smile didn’t reach eyes, and his gaze dropped to Alex’s crotch as she finished buttoning her shirt and tucked it in. “Sorry about that,” Travis said with a nod toward the door, clearly meant for Miranda. “She seldom cracks a joke, but I guess today’s the day.”

Miranda slipped out the door, and Travis turned back to pouring the vodka. Alex sank back into the velvet chair, her voice calm, deep, and even. “Strange sense of humor,” Alex said, forcing herself to meet Travis’s eyes. “But I’ve been called worse.”

“I apologize.” Travis sat back in his chair and pushed a double vodka Alex didn’t ask for across the table. “She’s actually just returned to the company after spending the last five years in LA trying to make it as an actress. I was happy to give her a job again, but my requirements for an assistant have now expanded past model scouting, and she’s just…settling in.”

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