Page 31 of Clay

“Do you think this has anything to do with finding McAllister?” he asked, and she understood the reason for his disquiet. There were too many things going on that seemed totally disconnected. But what if they were parts of one whole?

Devin looked down the table. “Jordan?”

“It doesn’t have that vibe,” she said, shaking her head. “Now’s as good a time as any for an update on our McAlister activities. The car that ran you off the road is a confirmed banger’s car. It was found abandoned in the shittiest part of Vegas, stripped of all identifying marks and torched. I reached out to my CIs to see if they have any further intel but haven't heard anything back yet. Deputy Greg Hamilton put the warrant out for Ivy four days ago. Even Jones agrees it’s bogus, so we don’t have any worriesthere." She paused, looked at Devin. "I haven't told Jones that we put eyes on him already, but I'm going to have to soon."

Dev nodded. “Agreed, but not quite yet. Let's hear from Warren first. Did Jones get anything on Tobias Davenport?"

Jordan shook her head. "Not that he's telling me. You're probably going to have to ask for yourself. I'm treading a fine line here."

"I know," he said, "And I'm sorry to put you in that situation. Compromising you is the last thing I want. I'll reach out when we're done here. Switching back to Hamilton, are we agreed that he's not connected to our breach?" He looked around the table, and everyone nodded.

The door opposite Ivy opened on well-oiled hinges, and a striking chestnut-haired man strolled in. There was no other word to use for it. He sauntered like he hadn't a care in the world. Like he was out for a walk in the park. He walked directly to the table, pulled out a chair and settled in, then looked across the table and gave her a slow, devastating smile. “Ivy, I’m Warren Bowman. It’s very nice to meet you.”

Oh, he was a charmer, with dancing eyes and a neatly trimmed beard that framed kissable lips. And if she hadn’t already tasted Clay, she could see taking him for a spin. He would be pure, unapologetic fun.

“Same to you,” she said. She looked down the table at what seemed to be wildly divergent personalities, and wondered, if it hadn’t been for that fateful crash, if these people would have ever been in the same room together.

“Our boy is definitely an asshat,” Warren said, diving right in. He leaned back in his chair, propping one leg over a knee. “He and McAlister were a thing for a good two months, and then she ended it. He kept after her, off and on, as he rolled through other women but just couldn’t seem to let her go. Showed up at her house, followed her around, and popped in at her work.Standard stalker MO. She filed complaints with the Sheriff’s Department, but it was her word against his, and he’s a cop. He kept telling his peers she was the one who got away. When she ended up in the hospital just over two years ago, she didn’t press charges, just disappeared and buried herself deep. About a month ago he must have figured out where she’d gone, because he pivoted his focus to Vegas.”

How had she not seen this? “How did I not know? She’s my best friend.”

Warren gave her a sympathetic look. “She was really good at it. Hell, I have to give her props. Whoever she hired to disappear her is top notch.”

As dismayed as his report made her, Ivy could admit that it was peak Katie to do something so well that even professionals were impressed.

Warren ran a hand through his wavy hair. “Hamilton’s a possessive bastard and obviously didn’t like the way she disappeared. Once I started asking around, I discovered has a history of unreported violence with other women. When he was done with them, he’d threaten them or their loved ones and move on to the next.”

Ivy closed her eyes, disbelief and anger coursing through her in equal waves. Why hadn’t Katie said something?

Warren continued his report. “He was on thin ice already with the Sheriff’s Department, but they never had anything solid they could pin on him, just an ongoing internal affairs investigation regarding rumors of alleged detainee abuse. Some questions about seizures that never made it into evidence. None of his peers were willing to come forward, and he never abused his power on duty that anyone could prove, except for now, to come after Ivy.

“His bosses are pissed. What he did shows they don’t have control over their own people, and they’re a hundred percent onboard with helping us to save some face. Since he bailed a few days ago two of the female members of the force came forward about hazing. Apparently, he never did anything that could be considered outright harassment, but he made it clear they weren’t welcome and should be at home in the kitchen tending to babies.”

“I think we can rule out human trafficking then, since this asshole looks like our guy,” Jordan said. “McAlister is doing this on her own, which is a relief. I’d much rather try to find her on our terms rather than someone else’s.”

Ivy could wholeheartedly agree with that, but it begged a question that made her ache inside. “Should I even be looking for her?” she asked. “Am I putting her in more danger by hiring you?”

“I don’t think so,” Warren shook his head. “Hamilton is the type of guy who always gets what he goes after. She dumped him then disappeared, so now he’s fixated. She’s in more danger now than she ever was in South Carolina, so we need to find her. You coming to us is the best possible thing you could have done.”

Pure relief replaced Ivy’s dread. What he said totally made sense. “What do we do now?”

“We keep looking,” Devin said. “Hamilton’s beating the bushes for her, so we’ll let him do some of the work for us.”

“And in the meantime, Ivy and I keep our heads low,” Clay said. “Hamilton doesn't know where we are right now, and he obviously knows Ivy’s phone number and address." He looked at Jordan. "Could he have someone inside LVMPD?"

Ivy watched as she considered it, then shrugged. "It would make sense. He might have been watching when Ivy was taken into custody, or someone may have been reporting back to him. I don't know that there's any way to find out who, or if it's even worth our time to go down that rabbit hole, especially since we already have eyes on him."

Ivy felt everything within her settle. Each of the team spoke with confidence, even when they were discussing options. They all seemed to be on an even playing field, although they did defer to Devin on overarching matters. It made her confidence that everything was going to be all right soar. But she wished she could go home.

“We should be fine to work out of HQ from now on,” Devin said. “I just wanted to have this initial meet with Ivy away from there and let her see our faces, since this job has gone through varying shades of weird," he smiled as she said it, and Ivy knew his words had been meant to put her at ease. They worked.

Ivy stood and had just slung her purse over her shoulder when her phone chirped. “Anonymous number.” She looked at Clay. “Should I answer it?”

Everyone around the table had gone silent and still. Devin nodded, “Yeah, but put it on speaker.”

Ivy placed her phone on the table face up and hit the receive button and the speaker button at the same time.

“This is Ivy.”

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