Something in his voice made her sit up and shuck the sarcasm. Pete was rarely serious. A joker. A playboy. Everyone’s friend. He had those good-boy looks and that old-school attitude that put people at ease right from the start. Underneath that laid-back personality, though, Hailey had always sensed a hint of something dark, a past he never talked about. Which was why his suddenly serious tone set off big red flags in her mind.
“Well, now,” she said. “That’s a surprise. Lisa told me Rafe’s been trying to get in touch with you.”
“I lost my cell. How’s Rafe’s mom?”
Lost his cell? Pete? Uh-huh. Riiiiight.
Hailey watched a news helicopter circle the downtown area. “Stable. For now. She’s hanging in there. But they’re not sure how much longer.”
“Dammit. I should be there for him.”
Hailey’s chest grew tight as she thought about Teresa Sullivan. A woman who’d been more of a mother to her in a few short years than her own mother had been to her in all her thirty-four. Though Hailey and Rafe had divorced shortly after their impromptu never-should-have-happened Vegas wedding, they were still friends. And Teresa would always be family.
“Where are you?” she asked, pushing aside the pain just the thought of Teresa’s illness brought.
In the background she heard springs squeak, like from a mattress. “I don’t know. Somewhere in south Jersey, I think.”
“You don’t know?” Just what was going on? Last she’d heard from Rafe, Pete had left the wildly successful auction with the Art Institute of Athens’s slinky Maria Gotsi in a fancy limo and disappeared into the snow. Rafe had told Hailey he suspected the two were on the verge of something serious, though they all hoped that wasn’t the case. Maria was a tiger shark.
“It’s a long story.”
Hailey thought about what waited for her on the other side of the door. “Start talking. I’ve got lots of time, trust me.”
It didn’t take as long as she’d expected, but she had to finally shut her mouth so she’d stop saying, really? and are you serious? Because she was slowing down the flow. And because even she recognized she was beginning to sound like a broken record.
She knew about Pete’s shady past dealings. Hell, she’d been married to a thief who’d worked for him, so none of that was a surprise. She also knew he’d cleaned up his act over the past few years. So it wasn’t what he was saying that had questions firing off in her brain, rather what he was omitting.
Which, of course, piqued Hailey’s interest. On both a personal and professional level.
“You get a good look at the guy in the park?” A burst of excitement rushed through her. She’d been off the police force now for three weeks while she stepped in to help her father’s company during his illness. He’d asked for her help specifically, and she’d agreed only out of some morbid sense of guilt. This was not the job she wanted to be doing. And her father knew that. As soon as he was better, she was on her way back south.
“Yeah. Stocky. Medium height. About fifty, I’d say. Good shape for his age. Gray hair. Said his name was David Halloway.”
She made a note on the pad on her desk. “You don’t think he was FBI after all?”
“No. Definitely not. Hinted he was, though. Somehow he knew Slade, so he could have been CIA, but I doubt it. Gut feeling says INTERPOL.”
“Hm. Interesting. I’ve got a friend with INTERPOL. Jill Monroe. She used to be with the Miami PD.”
“That’s why I called.”
She didn’t miss the frown in his voice and smiled. It was sappy and pathetic considering she was now running a multimillion-dollar company, but it felt good to be needed. Not just used.
Hailey made another note. “I’ll call her. See if she can look him up.”
“I’d appreciate it. I also need some background information. I’d do it myself, but I’ve got a few other things I need to wrangle, and considering what’s happening with Teresa, I don’t want to bother Rafe.”
“I’m happy to help out. What do you need?”
“Cash first of all. I don’t want to use my credit card in case they’re tracking me, and I’m about zapped out of funds. Can you get to Odyssey and have Liddy wire me some money?”
She made a note to call his assistant. “No problem. What else?”
“I need a list of addresses for the people Kat worked with in Cairo.”