Page 58 of Defending You
“Would have been between eleven thirty and noon,” Cici added.
“All right,” Alyssa said. “If they went through any major intersections, I’ll find them. I can call you back at this number?”
Asher shook his head.
“I’ll call you tomorrow from a fresh burner.”
“Call in the evening. That’ll give me time to find what we’re looking for.”
“Will do. Thanks, sis.” Cici ended the call, thankful she’d done something to help, even if that was only reaching out to someone smarter than she was.
“You really think she can ID them?” Asher asked.
“If there are cameras that picked up those guys’ faces, Alyssa will find them. Even if she just gets license plate numbers, that’ll help, right?”
He shrugged. “Can’t hurt.”
“I’ve been thinking.” She gazed at the burner on the table. “We were talking about how those guys found us. What if they were tracking your phone? That would explain how they didn’t catch up to us in Concord after you’d dumped it in the swamp.”
“Right.” He nodded slowly. “But that still circles back to Forbes. He’s the only one who had my name and number. No one else knew who I was.”
“True, but…” She straightened, a new thought hitting her. Scaring her. “What about GBPA? Could someone there have?—?”
“Not a chance.” Asher waved the idea away like it was ridiculous.
“Okay…” She didn’t want to argue, but Asher wasn’t perfect. And neither were the people at his company, no matter how much he respected them. “Forbes is a billionaire. It’s possible he has enemies he’s not even aware of. People like him—and maybe some of his rivals—have deep pockets. Pockets deep enough to turn even the most loyal?—”
“We protect people like Forbes all the time.” He shifted, leaning back. “I trust my team, Cici. I trust Bartlett with my life.”
“Okay, but maybe someone else?—”
“There’s no reason for anyone at GBPA to turn.” The words were hard and confident.
“Money is always a good reason.”
Asher took a breath and blew it out. She sensed his frustration, and maybe he was right. His judgment had kept them alive so far.
On the other hand, they needed to consider all the possibilities.
“The leaks are coming from Forbes or his people.” He spoke the words slowly, as if she were too dull to understand. “I’m not taking you to him until we know who it is.”
“Forbes is independent. I can’t imagine he’s sharing details about what we’re doing with anybody.”
Asher rolled his eyes, one side of his mouth tugging up. “Come on, Cici. He’s a billionaire. You think he’s booking charter flights and hiring security all by himself?”
“Billionaires are capable of making phone calls.” Even as she said the words, she remembered… “Brooklynn did say something about an assistant.”
“Just one? He probably has a butler and a valet and who knows how many staff.”
“He doesn’t. He lives in a hotel because his house is being rebuilt. He’s a nice, normal guy.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“Anyway.” She was careful to keep her tone even. No sense arguing tonight. “We should email Forbes so he’s warned.”
“Won’t work. If the assistant sees it, he’ll know we’re onto him. I had your father warn him. For now, we need to go dark.”
She blinked, caught off guard by how quickly he’d shut her idea down. Then his expression shifted, a shadow of doubtcrossing his face. “Unless…what if the leak is Forbes himself? Maybe he doesn’t want the necklace back. Maybe he’s hiding something.”
