Page 83 of Spooked

“Theft? What did she steal?”

“Allegedlysteal. A thirty-thousand-dollar Rolex belonging to her father. You want a copy of the report? It says she snatched the watch out of his safe.”

Brax closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Indi had promised no lies. A lie by omission went against the spirit of the agreement. He glanced toward the doorway that led to the bedrooms. She’d tossed and turned for the short time they’d spent in bed together, then drifted off just before they were due to wake up.

“Email me the report.”

He headed for his private office beside the gym. Actually, “gym” was too grand a word for it—the room contained a treadmill, a stationary bike, and a rowing machine, plus a set of free weights. If he wanted a more comprehensive workout, he went down to the first floor and used the club facilities.

The report pinged up on his laptop screen, and he scanned the details.

“That motherfucker,” he muttered.

“You’ll have to be more specific.”

“Look at the name of the officer who signed the report.”

“Damn. Her own brother?”

“She said he’d be watching for her to reappear.” And an arrest warrant would ensure that if she was pulled over for something as innocuous as a traffic violation, he’d be notified. “It’s dated at the end of June last year. According to Indi’s résumé, she was already in California by that point. I can’t see her returning home to Springfield to steal a watch and then flying back here again.”

“People lie on their résumés all the time.”

“So I’ll have to check it out.”

“Do you need to delay the trip to Portugal?”

Another glance toward the bedroom. “No. But we’ll have to be careful—do they check for arrest warrants at the airport?”

“Yes and no. TSA won’t check if she’s flying domestically, but CBP has access to the FBI’s NCIC database, so they might pick it up.”

“Stealing a watch isn’t a federal crime, is it?”

“No, the Feds just run the database. Some agencies enter every outstanding warrant in it, even for traffic fines, while others don’t bother. I could delete the entry for Indali, but if the brother’s monitoring things closely, he might notice, and that’s an inconvenience we don’t need.”

“So are you saying she shouldn’t travel abroad?”

“No, I’m saying that by the time you’re done with this whole shebang, you’ll owe so many favours that you’ll wish you were still married to Carissa. Are you sure this woman is worth it?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll find a workaround.”

But Brax had sounded more confident than he felt. An arrest warrant? His business was mostly legal, but he definitely didn’t need scrutiny from the authorities, no matter how many high-ranking officials might visit The Dark.

He padded back to the bedroom.

“Indi?”

Nothing.

“Indi, wake up.”

He nudged her shoulder, and she knifed into a sitting position.

“What…where…?”

“Tell me about the arrest warrant.”

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