Page 13 of All Tied Up
Six
Ransom
Closing my bedroom door, I went to the closet and punched in the code for my safe that held my cell phone to see a text from Wayne—the security guard at Noa’s apartment complex, who now worked for me. Fuck!
I’d gone down to eat breakfast, and since Bane watched me like a motherfucking hawk, I didn’t take this phone with me anywhere that he would be. I was only supposed to have the one phone that Linc had given me. If he knew I’d bought this one, he’d be furious.
Wayne: I have some info on Ms. Raines, sir.
That was all it said. Glancing back at my bedroom door, Idouble-checked I’d locked it before moving farther away from it and into my en suite and closing that door behind me too. The more barriers between me and anyone who could hear me, the better.
The phone barely rang once.
“Mr. Carver,” the older man said over the line.
“What is it?” I barked a little too aggressively.
“Ms. Raines left last night. She had a suitcase with her. Harry was on duty and said that she told him she was going to New Hampshire for the holiday and then on to Chicago from there for a book event. She won’t be home until Tuesday.”
Dammit! Of course. She always went to Jellie’s for the holidays. Portsmouth, New Hampshire. But what event was in Chicago?
“Did she mention the name of the book event?” I asked him as I paced back and forth, feeling like a fucking lion someone had caged.
“No, sir. But Harry said that he asked if it was a signing, and she told him yes, but it was also a conference, and she had to speak at it. Said to cross his fingers that she didn’t puke. Something like that.”
“Okay. Thanks, Wayne,” I told him, then ended the call so that I could go to my web browser and check her website. She had a Signings tab on there that listed her upcoming events.
SpiceCon, November 29–December 1, Chicago, Westin O’Hare.
I clicked the link beside the information. There, on the home page, was Noa’s smiling face and a picture of her books.Keynote Speaker: Juliette Romeowas written in red calligraphy. The corner of my lips tugged. She would fucking hate speaking in front of people. God, I’d love to be there to watch her. As much as she would hate it, I knew she’d be incredible. Hell, just hearing her voice was enough. I wondered if the attendees knew what lucky bitches they were.
Clicking back to my Contacts, I scrolled down until I found the name I needed. Tapping Ted’s name, I put the phone back to my ear. He was a local criminal who did jobs for me that I didn’t want the family involved in, and he was the one who had figured out for me that Shakespeare was Juliette Romeo. He was familiar with her after doing the extensive background search on her.
“Ransom,” he drawled over the line, sounding like a man looking to get into trouble.
“I need you to find the travel arrangements for Noa Raines this weekend and change them,” I said over the line.
“The hot romance writer? Sounds like fun. What’d she do to piss you off?”
“She didn’t. I want her flight switched to a private jet. I’ll send you the details. You just need to find her travel arrangements and hack into the system to change them. That, and when she arrives in Chicago, I want whatever limo service that was hired to pick her up canceled. I’ll handle that mode of transportation.”
He cleared his throat. “All right. I’m on it. You know where she’s flying out of? JFK?”
“No, try Manchester, New Hampshire and Boston. She’s not currently at home.”
I waited while I heard the tapping of a keyboard.
“Found it. One Noa Raines. She’s got a flight out of Boston on Friday night at seven fifteen, nonstop to O’Hare.”
“Good. I’ll have what you need from my end in just a few minutes. Stay right there,” I told him, then ended the call.
A smirk curled my lips as I imagined her reaction when she got to the airport on Friday and was escorted to the VIP area. Damn, I might have to make a trip, just to watch it from a distance.
Seven
Noa
The magical feeling that being at the Wattses’ had always brought me for Thanksgiving was absent this year. I’d gone to bed last night, exhausted from constantly acting like I was happy. It wasn’t like I hadn’t tried to enjoy the holiday. I truly wanted to, but with the silence from Ransom, my heart just grew heavier. I’d thought about something I wanted to tell him at least ten times throughout the day. Things that I knew would amuse him.
