“Let’s get started,” Blaze calls out from one of the open doorways. All the guys stand and start heading toward the door. I suck in a breath and stand up, adrenaline surging through my veins. Chance grabs my hand again and we walk into the room together. He leads me to one of the chairs and sits down before pulling me into his lap.
“I’ve got you,” he whispers in my ear again and I nod.
“All right,” Blaze says and a hush falls over the room. “You all know why we’re here.” A few guys nod and glance over at me. “Carly, I’m sorry your family is going through this but we’re all here for you. Your family is our family.”
“Thank you,” I say softly, nodding as my gaze sweeps over the room.
“Streak, why don’t you go ahead and get started?” Blaze suggests and Streak nods, standing up and setting a little white box down on the table. A couple guys chuckle and I look at Chance, who just shakes his head.
“Jesus, did you make another PowerPoint, Streak?” Fuzz asks, laughing and Streak shoots him a glare.
“Shut it, you’re going to be thanking me for this.”
I wring my hands together, unable to sit still and Chance holds me tighter as a white screen fills the back wall of the room. Streak sits down at his computer and after a few clicking noises, a photo of my sister in a gorgeous gold ballgown pops up on the screen. Her gray eyes sparkle as she laughs at something someone says and my heart aches.
“As far as I can tell, this is the first time Julian Henshaw saw Ivy Mills,” Streak says and my breath catches in my throat. “They were both at the same charity event held on New Year’s Eve.”
I gasp. “I was there.”
Everyone turns to look at me.
“Do you remember seeing him there?” Streak asks and I shake my head.
“No, but it’s not impossible. There were a ton of people there that night.”
He nods and turns back to his computer. “After that night, Henshaw hired a private investigator. I can’t know for sure what the PI was hired to do unless I hacked his system, which, of fucking course, I did.”
A few of the guys laugh but Streak keeps talking.
“He has multiple files on Ivy, everything from where she lives and her phone number to the lunch spot she frequents, bank account information, health records. When I say this guy found everything, I mean it.”
“But why?” Storm asks and Streak nods at him.
“That’s the million-dollar question. It seems Julian started inserting himself into Ivy’s life in any way that he could. But even that doesn’t explain why he needed all this other stuff.”
I remember my lunch with Ivy just after I met Chance. She was head over heels and said it felt right but everything she knew, everything Julian did was designed to make her fall for him – to trap her in that house.
“It was all orchestrated,” I whisper and everyone turns to look at me.
“What?” Streak asks and I shake my head.
“When Ivy first told me about Julian, she said he just got her and how they connected on so many levels but that’s what he wanted her to think. He learned everything he could about her so he could mold himself into her perfect man.”
All the guys are quiet, somber, as they look around the room at each other.
“And the bank information?” Blaze asks.
“He cut up her debit card. Could he have messed with her accounts at all?”
Streak shakes his head. “It doesn’t look like he’s touched any of her money but it’s possible he could be monitoring it to make sure she doesn’t try to run.”
“You have anything else for us?” Blaze asks.
“Honestly, I feel like I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole here, Boss,” Streak says, blowing out a breath and running his hand through his hair. “When I started investigating, I never expected to find all this and it seems like the more I dig, the more there is to find. I just end up with more fucking questions.”
“Like what?” I ask, scared to hear his answer.
He looks down at his computer and pulls up a bank statement. “Like the five separate hundred thousand dollar transfers he made into an account in the Cayman Islands starting three days after the charity event. Or the numerous calls to two different burner phones starting just before the event. Not to mention, the two guards he’s got on your sister whenever she leaves the house.”
“Why would she need guards?”
“So she can’t get away, Princess,” Chance whispers in my ear and I tense in his arms. Good God, this whole thing is a mess.
“This started out as any other case but it’s obviously so much bigger and I’m working my ass off here, but I haven’t been able to crack it yet.”
It’s quiet as everyone in the room stares at each other, like we’re each hoping someone will have some answers for us. Finally, Blaze sighs. “Well, keep looking, Streak. In the meantime, we need to figure out how we’re going to get her out of there.”
“It’s gonna be damn near impossible with two guards on her ass all the time,” Moose says and I feel my heart sinking. I hate that he’s right. How are we ever supposed to get Ivy out of there with two men dedicated to making sure she can’t get away?
“Let’s take this one step at a time,” Blaze says, ever the voice of reason. “We need to get her a phone so she can get into contact with us.”
“Is there any way you could get that to her?” Storm asks, his gaze locked on me and I shake my head.
“I don’t know. Julian has cut her off completely and I doubt I’d even make it to the front door if I tried to go see her.”
Chance rubs his hand over my back and it fights the hysteria I’m barely holding back. “What about Rosie?”
“Who’s Rosie?” Fuzz asks, sitting forward.
“She’s the maid who brought me the note from Ivy. She doesn’t want to be involved but I get the feeling she wants to help my sister so that might work.”
“Henshaw has a tracker on her car, though,” Chance adds and Fuzz blows out a breath as he leans back in his seat.
“Dude’s got some serious control issues.”
That’s the understatement of the year.
“That may be our best bet right now, though.” I glance around the room and a few of the guys nod. Blaze sighs and nods.
“Let’s give it a go and if we need to reassess, we will. I’ll give Rodriguez a call today, too.”
Everyone seems in agreement and Blaze ends the meeting, banging a gavel on the table before coming over to Chance and I.
“Hey, Darlin’. I’ll have Chance get you a burner tomorrow and then hopefully you can pass it along to Rosie.”
I nod. “Yeah, that sounds good. I just want to thank you for all your help.”
“Don’t mention it,” he assures, shaking his head. “Speaking of, Chance, can you make sure she has all our numbers in her phone?”
“You got it, Boss,” he says from behind me.
“If you need anything, you can call any one of us,” Blaze says, meeting my eyes and I’m reassured by the sincerity in his gaze. I believe, without a doubt, I could call these guys in the middle of the night and they would come running if I needed them.