out of the kitchen, leaving Rae in the enormous vacuum his departure had created.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
7:03 a.m.
Rae had called Reggie while Liam drove to the address listed for Enzo Astor’s home, located up a winding road in a mountainous community. Since it was still early, they hadn’t yet made it into town, where they could get her another laptop and see the sheriff.
But one thing at a time.
Holding the cell to her ear, she hoped she wouldn’t lose the signal. “A shell company?”
“Wyoming has been home to thousands of shell companies created by people all over the world, and, in fact, one address held over two thousand companies—some of which were involved in criminal activities,” Reggie said.
“You mean like the Cayman Islands?”
“Yes, only a much smaller operation. The address is for a place called WCS Incorporated. The laws have changed things up, but there are loopholes. Think a dummy corporation.”
“Like a front organization.”
“Yes. They’ve been used to keep anonymity and to hide identities in the case of tax evasion.”
“Or money laundering.”
“Right. There are still ways around the laws to keep anonymity. All that said, I’m following Astor’s trail, though I’m not sure how much help this will be in finding Zoey if he’s connected to her disappearance.”
“I understand. It’s the only lead we have at the moment. We don’t know if this man’s a criminal.” She glanced at Liam, remembering that he thought he’d seen the guy somewhere and called his DEA contact.
“All possibilities are on the table until we find your Zoey,” Reggie told her.
“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you. There are no words.”
“Even for a journalist?”
“Nope. No words.”
“I’ll keep searching, but I wanted you to know where some trails have led me. I have another client I need to attend to this morning, but then I should be back on this case in full force. And in the meantime, Rae, I hope and pray that Zoey turns up safe and unharmed.”
“Me too, Reggie. We all hope that.”
She ended the call.
“I think this is it,” Liam said. “The GPS took us the wrong way. If I had followed those instructions, I would have driven off a ridge. But there’s a long drive, and just through the trees you can see a home that could be a resort all by itself.”
“Reggie said it’s valued at seventeen million dollars.”
“And it’s smack in the middle of this neighborhood with other luxury homes but spread out enough that each house has privacy. I wouldn’t expect anything less from a real estate mogul,” he said.
“I would have expected Astor to have a ranch somewhere. In fact, he probably has one. This is likely his home closer to town.”
Liam steered his truck along the neighborhood road and made a U-turn while Rae shared what Reggie had told her. Several other cars were parked at the curb to a neighboring home, so Liam’s truck wouldn’t stand out too much. Still, he parked next to a boulder, but not so close that they couldn’t see the comings and goings at the house.
“We can sit here and wait for a bit,” he said. “Don’t worry. Nothing about this will be time wasted. While we’re making phone calls or trying to figure things out, we can watch Astor’s home in case there’s movement. The point is that all possible venues are being tapped. I’ll contact the sheriff to see what’s cooking there. You can ask the detective if there’s any news on your stolen laptop and segue into questions from there.”
“Sounds like a plan, except for the part where I really need to replace my laptop.”
“And it sounds to me like you already have a computer at work for you. His name is Reggie.”
Rae laughed. “I’m sure you’re right. What could I learn that he hasn’t already figured out or will find out? But you know the old adage ‘Two heads are better than one.’ In the meantime, we can brainstorm a few things. At least I have my tablet until I can replace my laptop.”
“What’s on your mind, then?”
“I can’t figure out Samara Davidson. She seems well-to-do. Why couldn’t she have somehow paid for Zoey’s protection when she was stalked here years ago or used her influence to get Simon to leave her daughter alone?”
“Maybe the business wasn’t doing that well until recently, and even so, Simon had access to more money. In comparison, he had nearly unlimited resources.”
“And now that Zoey’s missing, why didn’t Sam also hire a private investigator?”