“I think so. Let’s just say he’s spending the afternoon getting to know some of my colleagues from the FBI.”
“Sounds like fun,” she said with a note of sarcasm in her voice. “So, what do we do now?”
“Well, we carry on with the original plan. I’ll be your date at the rehearsal dinner tonight and for the wedding tomorrow. That will give me a chance to get close enough to Ethan and win his trust. Once I do that, I can see if he’s willing to work with us to bring down Estavez.” He let his hand drop down to Sydney’s back and pulled away to look at her. “But I need you to really sell the idea that I am your date, maybe even your boyfriend, or it won’t work.”
Sydney groaned. “I know, I know. It’s just hard for me; I’m not ready for the scrutiny. Jack’s only been gone for six months.” She looked up at the TV screen again, which momentarily froze on a beautiful couple taking their wedding vows on the beach. It was as if the hotel was reading her mind.
“It’s only for one night. Then you can just tell people it didn’t work out, and how that Alex guy was a total jerk.”
Sydney smiled giving him a nudge in the ribs. “Well, not a total jerk.” Alex smiled in return. Sydney began running scenarios for the evening through her mind. “We need a good backstory. How we met. Any ideas?”
“Hmm. We met a bar? Dollar draft night?”
Sydney nearly laughed out loud. “Um, no. I would not be caught dead in a bar that serves one-dollar drafts.” Alex shrugged and leaned back against the foot of the bed, taking his hand away from her back. “Not that there is anything wrong with those kinds of bars—it’s just not plausible.”
She stared at the sliding glass doors that opened up to the beach. “How about this: we met at a coffee bar while you were in town on business. Our coffees got mixed up, and you ended up with my sugar-free caramel soy latte. We talked, you asked for my number, and I said no. We would have parted ways, but just as I was getting ready to walk out the door, it began to pour down rain. I stepped back inside, and you came to my rescue with a large black umbrella. Ever the true gentlemen, you walked me to my car and gave me a business card. I lost the card, but weeks later, we saw each other again at the same coffee shop, and you ordered me a sugar-free caramel latte, and we sat down and began to talk. The rest is history.”
“Wow. You just came up with all that?”
Sydney smiled. “I watch a lot of Netflix.”
Alex laughed. “I see. Well, that works for me.”
She suddenly stood up, as if a weight had been lifted from her. “Great! Listen, I’ve got to hop in the shower. We have a rehearsal to get ready for.” She quickly grabbed a few toiletry bags from the bed and headed toward the bathroom.
“Sydney.”
She turned around to look at him. “Yes?”
“Just so you know, in real life,” he said with a half smile on his rugged face, his grey eyes twinkling, “I would have never let you get in that car without getting your number first.”
Sydney felt her heart flutter a bit. She didn’t say a word, just smiled and walked into the bathroom.
Maybe Alex wouldn’t be such a bad date after all.
Twenty-Two
Ethan
Damn it, Ethan thought as his phone buzzed again. Marissa was glaring at him as the wind sent her hair swirling in long ribbons around her shoulders. They were standing on a custom-made wooden platform that floated over the white sand beach just twenty feet from the edge of the ocean tide. Overhead he could hear seagulls squawking, circling the large pergola that had just been erected for tomorrow’s ceremony. He and Marissa were supposed to be giggling through the rehearsal of their wedding vows, preparing for tomorrow like most couples. Instead Ethan felt tense and distracted. His phone buzzed again.
“Honey,” said Marissa, tucking a long strand of hair around her ear. She was glowing in the fading sun, her long white, off-the-shoulder dress nearly iridescent. Her expression wasn’t as pleasant. “Do you need to answer that?”
“I’m so sorry,” he said to Marissa and then looked at the wedding officiant standing patiently in front of them. He pulled the phone from his pants pocket and looked at the screen. It was Estavez. “I need to take this.”
He looked back at Marissa and leaned forward to kiss her. “Can you finish without me, darling?”
“Okay,” she said weakly. He knew Marissa was too proud to ask him to do otherwise.
“Thanks,” he said and stepped off the platform. As he made his way toward an empty path that led into the jungle of trees, he swiped the screen on his phone.
“Hello?” he said once he was out of earshot.
“Hola, Ethan. How is my business partner today? Ready for the big wedding?” He heard Estavez’s voice crackle over the phone.
“Hi Vince. Yes, we are actually going through the rehearsal.”
“Oh, I am sorry to bother you, my friend, but I just wanted to make sure our plan is on track?”
“Yes, I will have the money for next week, once everything is official.”
“Wonderful, Ethan. I really do like you, mi amigo. I would hate for our relationship to turn sour.”
Though Estavez sounded forcefully cheerful over the phone, the undertone was clear: deliver the money you owe me, or else your life is in jeopardy. His partner had no idea how exactly he would extract the money from his new wife. All he knew was that as soon as he was married, the money would follow. Estavez was willing to wait, but not for long. He wasn’t the type of person you wanted to keep waiting. Estavez peppered him with a few more questions about some upcoming campaigns they had scheduled for the website before saying goodbye.
As he walked through the dense jungle, Ethan thought back to the night when everything began, five years ago. He had just finished a hard workout at the gym, his cure for a painfully dull day at the office. He had dropped by his apartment, showered, and walked a few blocks down the street to find his usual stool at the bar.
The sales position he’d landed at a large commercial construction company wasn’t exactly allowing him to live his dream life. Everything about the company was bland and boring, from the squat concrete buildings to the grey-beige walls in every room. The small cubicle he called home from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. quickly turned into a veritable prison, only missing the iron bars.
He was partway into his second glass when he noticed a guy, about his age, sidle up to the bar. The man, whom he would later learn was named Pete, was chatting with the bartender about how much money he was making at his new gig. When Ethan overheard twenty thousand dollars a month, he put down his beer nuts and waited for the right opportunity to invite himself into the conversation.
After buying Pete a few drinks, not only did he find out exactly how he was making that kind of money, he had the name of someone he could reach out to if he was interested. Ethan had everything he needed.
He threw a couple of twenty-dollar bills down on the sticky bar top and headed home. Jack was asleep on the lumpy brown couch when Ethan burst into their apartment.
“I’ve got the answer to our money problems!” Ethan announced. Jack sleepily opened one eye and glared at him.