Easy This Time - JH Croix Page 0,27
the financial info. He also opened four new credit cards in her name and applied for a business loan,” Trent explained. Trent was a private investigator I’d known for years. Whenever I needed to dig deeper into something, I turned to him for help.
“Okay, none of that’s all that unexpected given the situation. Anything else?”
“Yeah. Now you can add that he put a tracking chip on her phone. That’s how he traced her to your building.”
“What the fuck? Please tell me you already deactivated it.”
“If I deactivate it, he’ll know. Instead, I rerouted it to a burner phone I purchased. That phone is just going to sit with me during the day. I’ll drop it off with your security in the evening at your office building. That’s what we’ll do until you’re ready for us to cut bait.”
I was pissed. As Max had guessed, Brett was unquestionably using Mari. Not that I’d been wondering about that detail. She didn’t have a ton of money, in fact not very much at all, according to Max. As he put it, she stubbornly refused his help. Looking over at Trent, I shook my head slowly. “My best guess is he hopes to get investments through his connections with Mari. When he didn’t get what he wanted, he decided to ruin her credit instead of his.”
Trent nodded. “I can put a hold on everything he did money-wise under her name, but I need your clearance.”
“I need to talk to Mari first.”
This topic was dead last on the list of things I wanted to discuss with Mari. Brett was turning out to be more underhanded than I’d considered. For Mari’s sake, I had wanted this to be a clean break for her. His actions were making that difficult.
I promised Mari a good week in New Orleans. This topic was decidedly not good. Concern kept pinging through me every time I considered Brett showing up last night.
“Let me know when you talk to her. All she needs to do is put a freeze on her credit, and that’ll stop him in his tracks,” Trent said.
“Yeah, I know,” I said as I stood from my chair. “Thanks for your quick work, and I’ll talk to her today. I don’t want to delay on any of this.”
Moments later, I stepped out, the heavy afternoon heat only serving to add to my frustration. Not that I didn’t expect it, mind you. Louisiana was hot most of the time. My phone felt like it was burning a hole in my pocket. I wanted to call Max and run this by him before I talked to Mari, but I knew that would piss her off.
When I felt the vibration of my phone as I walked down the street, I slipped it out quickly and glanced down to see Gabby Boudreaux’s name flash on the screen. I didn’t hesitate to answer.
“Hey, Gabby, what can I do for you today?”
“Just calling to give you a small piece of my mind,” she said tartly.
“Excuse me?”
“Look, Nash, you’re a gentleman and my family has known yours for years. I know you’re a good man, but I want to make sure you’re not gonna do anything to hurt my friend, Mariana Channing.”
“Well, uh, this is out of left field.”
“Oh, don’t start with the baseball metaphors with me just because my husband plays,” she drawled. “Mari stayed at Inn Boudreaux with her ex, who took off in the middle of the night. When I spoke to her, she mentioned you’d helped her out. You’re a good man, but she does not need a fling. You’re too charming for your own good.”
I was relieved Gabby couldn’t see me rolling my eyes. Although I wasn’t too close to Gabby, I knew her socially. Her family went as far back in New Orleans as mine. I crossed paths with Gabby and her brothers with regularity, and of course, everyone knew who her baseball star husband was.
Although I hadn’t expected such a call from Gabby, I appreciated her protectiveness of Mari.
“No need to worry, Gabby. I met Mari when she stopped by looking for her ex. I happen to know her brother because he handled security for my buildings. I offered Mari a place to stay. That’s it.” Obviously, I stayed silent on how much I wanted to kiss Mari again and then some.
“I’m glad I needn’t worry. You keep being nice, you hear me?”
Although Gabby might be nosy, I knew I’d hear it if I harmed a single hair on