Page 117 of Billion-Dollar Attitudes

I looked at Chase. "You sly dog."

"What can I say? You were right. We need to talk. So I rounded up the posse. At least some of them. Brad and Mitch left already for their meeting with Clint."

I shook my head and took a sip of my whiskey. "You're something else."

"Gentlemen," the hostess said once they arrived. "Your friends are here." She pulled out Ryder's chair for him and then Daniel's. After they were seated, she handed us each a menu and told us our waitress would be around shortly to take our orders.

"So, what's going on?" Ryder asked.

"I believe I got you two up to speed with what's going on in Guy's life," Chase said.

I rolled my eyes. "And you enjoyed gossiping at my expense."

"Let's order first before the shit gets too deep." Ryder shook his head and flagged down the cocktail waitress, ordering a bottle of Crown Royal.

"Do we have any idea yet who kidnapped Meagan? And we hear you are seeing a gal named Ariel... a friend of your sister's, right?" Daniel asked.

I nodded. “No, on Meagan. Yes, on Ariel, and she’s missing. I mean, not legally, but I haven't heard from her since last night."

Chase leaned back in his chair, balancing it on two legs. "I don't know about you all, but I've about had it with Investigator Carter."

"Yeah. I tried to contact him last night and today with no luck." I told them.

Daniel threw back his drink, downing it in one gulp. "I'm telling you. It will be up to us to figure out what's happening with our case."

"I agree," Ryder nodded. "We need to take matters into our own hands." He looked at me. "Guy, you said Ariel is missing?”

"Yes. I haven't seen Ariel since before Meagan was kidnapped…. Or maybe, it was about the same time. I'm not sure about the timeline of events."

Daniel and Ryder both frowned. "That's not good," Daniel muttered.

"No, it's not," Ryder agreed. "We need to find her."

"Copy that." Chase leaned forward, elbows on the table. "First things first, though. Let's try to figure out who sent Ariel those roses."

"According to Ariel's neighbor, the delivery driver is smaller than me, shorter, messy blondish hair... in her words. Unkept, posing as a postal worker." I explained.

"That's a big help. That narrows it down to...," Daniel added.

"About a third of the white guys that live in San Diego," Ryder teased.

"To me, the real mystery is... How did this person know I was taking Ariel to the zoo?"

"What do you mean? I don't get it!" Ryder shrugged.

"Oh, I forgot to tell them about the card..." Chase shook his head.

So, I explained the card mystery to them as they listened intently. Each of them sat for a moment before Daniel summed it up with one word. "Weird."

"But, what's weirder is that I never told anyone about Ariel and me except Chase."

Chase held up a finger. "And just for the record. I didn't tell anyone either. Did I?" He gestured toward Daniel and Ryder as they nodded in agreement.

"So, the question is... how did this person know my plans?" I repeated.

"And how does that fit with Meagan's kidnapping?" Chase added.

"I don't know," I said, shaking my head. "But, I mean... it has to be connected somehow, right?"

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