she nods for the second time, I breathe out my relief that she trusts me. “Jesus, Isabelle. How long?”
Hesitation crosses her features first. It’s quickly chased by honesty. “Officially, a little over a month.” When the color drains from my cheeks, she rushes out, “But I met him before I knew he was being investigated.” She lowers her girly squeal before revealing, “I’m petrified of flying.” She takes a breather like just talking about her fear has made her scared. “I was working up the courage to enter the boarding area at the airport when my push off the railing had me crashing into Isaac.” A smile replaces her frown. “Isaac took care of me. He iced the bump on my head before offering up a pain reliever for my throbbing head. I didn’t think I’d see him again, so you can imagine my surprise when I was seated next to him for my flight to Ravenshoe. If that wasn’t already shocking, it was a business-class seat.”
Business class?
“You flew business class?” Nothing but shock registers on my face, even more so when Isabelle nods. Nothing against Tobias, but he left a good chunk of debt behind when he passed. He took out a thirty-year mortgage on his house to buy Isabelle. He still had a decade worth of payments left to make, and I’m not going to mention the funds he wasted on an apartment he never lived in, or you’ll be looking at me as if I’m a rich schmuck when you discover I paid off his debt with some of the money my grandfather left me. I couldn’t bring Tobias back, but I could make things a little easier for Isabelle as I wish I could have for Melody years earlier.
“Who paid for your flight?”
Isabelle glares at me like I’m stupid. “The Bureau.”
I almost roll my eyes as if to say, duh. I might look young, but I’m not stupid.
“Did you request for your ticket to be upgraded to business class?” When she shakes her head, my suspicion grows. “Did Isaac have any way of knowing you were on his flight?” He’s doing some shady shit right now that will impact Isabelle, so who’s to say he wasn’t back then?
Isabelle gets in half a head shake before her brows pull together. “Isaac collected my belongings from the floor, so he may have seen the boarding pass I had printed earlier that day, but it would have only been for the quickest second—” Her words stop when the supply room door rockets open.
Alex enters the room, killing our conversation in an instant. Although I trust him, it isn’t enough to update him on the information Phillipa and I have unearthed the past three days. I haven’t even told Grayson yet.
A tick impinges my jaw when Alex’s eyes land on mine. They’re as arrogant as his comment. “It’s after eleven, and the report I requested first thing this morning is still not finalized, yet you have time for a chit-chat with Isabelle in the supply room. Perhaps I need to increase your workload?” The report he’s requesting landed in his inbox before he arrived at the office this morning. This is just his way of telling me to piss off.
After diverting his focus to Isabelle, Alex says, “I need to see you in my office.” Confident she’ll jump when demanded, he pivots on his heels and stalks to the door, his brutal pace only slowing when Isabelle doesn’t immediately jump to his command. “Now, Isabelle.”
His clipped tone launches Isabelle into action. After straying her panicked eyes to mine, she races out of the room, falling in step with Alex’s long strides within seconds. While she most likely will be placed on suspension, I dig my phone out of my pocket to call Grayson. When my call goes unanswered, I try Phillipa’s number. Her plane was scheduled to land right around the time Isabelle’s interview commenced.
“Hey, how’d you go?” she questions, not bothering to issue a greeting.
I rake my fingers through my hair for the second time, amplifying how badly in need of a trim it is. “Not good but better than expected.”
I want to ask if she knew Isabelle was living in an apartment owned by Isaac, but I don’t know if our trust circle extends that far yet. She has a file that could change my viewpoint on life in an instant, but until she places it into my hot little hands. My expectations must remain low, I’ve been