No Way Out - Fern Michaels Page 0,44

was often part of the testing process. While she didn’t have access to bank records, getting public records was a snap. Most people would go to one of those “people info” websites and have to spend money to get background checks, often turning up nothing.

Ellie could get all the details with one or two clicks.

She started with the area where she had last seen Rick. At least, where she remembered seeing him last. In an instant, a sharp, searing pain passed through her head. She began to get dizzy.

She stumbled over to the sofa and lay down. This was the second time it had happened in just a few days. Both times, it had happened when she tried to find Rick. Maybe she should take it as a big hint from the universe—leave it alone. But she could not. She decided to rest a bit until the buzzing in her head subsided. The migraines had been frequent when she was in the hospital and had continued for a few months afterward. Since moving to Hibbing, the migraines were few and far between. She tried to recall the last one she had had. Except for the other day, she realized that it had been almost a year. Hibbing had been good for her in a very unconventional way.

Chapter Nineteen

Rick Barnes had led a charmed life for a long time. He had good looks, charisma, and a wad of money, money he didn’t mind spending on whatever he wanted. But, at the moment, he was broke and a thousand miles from home. He hated the idea of calling one of his old buddies and asking for money, but he certainly couldn’t ask his old man. His father had, for all intents and purposes, disowned him. Rick knew he was a fool to have blown through all that dough, $200,000, but he couldn’t help it. The parties, the cocaine, the women. Yeah, the women loved to drink Dom Perignon, and he loved to be able to order it just by snapping his fingers.

Fortunately for him, after blowing the first hundred grand, he had been on a winning streak at various casinos. Hotel suites, single-malt scotch, champagne, and megastar shows were at his disposal. As long as he kept winning, the casinos were happy to pick up his tab, hoping they would eventually get their money back. It had worked for him for a few years. He would win an average of $50,000 over a weekend and was smart enough to take it home. With his winnings, and the casinos comping him, he was having the time of his life.

When he turned thirty, the second $100,000 was released to him, much to his father’s dismay. His father had never expected his son to blow the first $100,000. Richard J. Barnes Sr. thought his son was smarter than that. He was correct to believe that his son was smart; unfortunately, his son had not an ounce of common sense. Richard J. Barnes Sr. knew that his son was ambitious. What he did not realize was that his son had no work ethic, as in zero. Only when Rick had graduated from college, with a grade-point average that reflected his partying rather than his studying, did that realization take hold.

His father gave him a job working as a project manager for his real-estate development company. But all Rick managed to do was come in late, miss meetings, and totally lose track of the timeline for the job.

Rick thought his father was being too hard on him. What was the big deal anyway? he thought. There were so many projects in the works, and his father was loaded. What was the problem with one job being a week late? Except one week turned into two, then a month. The client was aggravated and frustrated and asked that Rick be removed from the project. Having no choice, and at risk of losing a valued client, his father put someone more competent on the job and gave Rick something easier to handle.

Unfortunately, Rick also proved unable to manage anything simple. Finally, his father relegated him to managing the office. His only job was to keep track of supplies. But he didn’t do that very well either. The copy machine was out of paper. The postage-stamp machine had expired. The cleaning people hadn’t been paid in weeks and threatened to stop working. But Rick always had an excuse. Lost paperwork. No one told him they needed certain things. The list