Page 69 of Trust

“Sorry, but not really.”

“And you still don’t know who could be doing this?” Jakob asked. “Do you think it could be the same person?”

“We have two main suspects,” Conner said. “Then a few competitors might have been trying to scare her away. There were a few family members at first, but they all checked out. In fact, none of them were overly happy with you being gone.”

“Really? I always thought most of them would rather deal with my brother.”

“No.”

Conner was right. They had lost one big sponsorship for an invitational in Australia. Without Lani there to work on the contract, everything fell through.

“He took you for granted,” Emily said.

“I have to agree with Emily,” Jakob said. Lani looked at him, surprise lighting her eyes. “What? I’ve known that one reason Kingston remained successful over the years was your business sense.”

“Yes, and that’s why I tried to hire her away. I also plan to keep trying. It worked for a cover story, though. No one would wonder, at least for a couple of weeks, why she left for Miami,where our headquarters are located. So you haven’t heard from Royal?” Conner asked.

She shook her head. “I haven’t heard from her since that morning after the wedding.”

“Okay. I have Ian working on it. He’s at your brother’s place with his new partner.”

“What? Mix has a new partner?”

Conner stood. “He doesn’t like that nickname, especially since everyone in Task Force Hawaii now calls him by it.”

Emily giggled in delight. “Good, he’s too stuffy.” She turned to Lani. “He’s excellent, though. Former MI-6 and all that. He’s handled hostage negotiations before.”

“And that might be what we have here, or it could be the same person after you. Either way, I want to bring your brother up to date.”

“He’s clear?” Emily asked, her voice telling him she didn’t believe he wasn’t. Granted, he was wondering about his best friend. This wasn’t the man he had known for years. He could say one woman couldn’t change you, but then…he looked at Lani. It had happened to him.

“Yes.”

“Give me my phone, Em.”

She handed it over to Lani. She texted someone—presumedly Ben. Then she stood. “I want to be there when we tell him.”

Conner nodded. “That might be good. Your brother isn’t handling this that well.”

“My brother doesn’t handle most bumps in the road well.”

“I’m going to head over there again. I’ll see you in a bit.”

She nodded.

“We’ll get her there safe, boss,” Emily said.

As soon as the front door shut, Emily shook her head.

“You think Conner doesn’t realize you don’t trust him?”

Lani sighed. “I trust Conner.”

Emily looked at him, then Lani. She settled her hands on her hips. “Lani.”

“I didn’t want to say I still don’t trust my brother. I love him, even after everything. But…now his wife is missing? I’m getting worried that this is bigger than we originally thought.”

“I think someone trying to kill you is a big deal,” Jakob said.

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