had finally confessed his secret hideout to his brothers while we were in Colorado. Tristin had instantly perked up, liking the idea of working out with punching bags. Though Leo insisted that they would stay out of the ring, I had a feeling that wouldn’t last long. I’d witnessed firsthand how much he enjoyed the sport, and now that football season was over, there was nothing stopping him from picking it back up.
“Good,” Hayle answered. “Will you come somewhere with me?”
“Yes, but are you going to tell me where?”
“Not until you’re trapped in the car with me.”
“That sounds ominous.” But I put my calligraphy supplies back in their box and got ready to leave anyway. This was Hayle. It wasn’t like he was going to take me bungee jumping.
When I realized his destination about ten minutes later, I groaned. I would have preferred diving off the nearest bridge. “The mansion, really?”
“Don’t worry. Dad isn’t home.”
“Then, what are we doing here?” Though the guys still visited and slept at their family home on the regular, I avoided the Sharpe mansion as much as possible.
“Trying to solve a mystery.”
He didn’t say anything else as he parked in the front drive and let us into the house. The miniscule smirk on his lips told me that he was enjoying withholding information. So, I let him have his fun while I followed him around like a perplexed alpaca.
Assuming alpacas followed people around. I had no idea, but it seemed like something they should do.
Hayle led me directly up the stairs, only pausing when we stood outside of Vincent’s study. He unlocked the door, turned on the light, and waited for me to enter the room before closing the door behind us.
I wrinkled my nose as the scent of stale cigars inundated my senses. It was probably best that Vincent seemed to relegate his cigar habit to this room alone, because I had a feeling that scent would never fully dissipate.
“Are you going to tell me what we’re doing here now?”
He walked around me to the desk before turning to face me. “Dad hasn’t been home since Christmas Eve.”
“Really? But that was almost two weeks ago.”
“Exactly. And when I tried contacting him, he sent the calls directly to voicemail and only replied to text messages with curt responses saying he’d be back in town next week.”
“That’s…odd. But he’s probably just busy with work.”
“Maybe. But listen to this.” He laid his phone on the desk and gestured for me to come closer. “This is a recording taken on Christmas Eve morning from the security camera I hid in here.”
Vincent’s voice sounded on the recording, muffled but easily identifiable. “Did you make the arrangements?”
Pause.
“I’m sure. This is only the first of many changes I intend to make in coming months.”
Pause.
“Good.”
Pause.
“Nothing you don’t already know. My cell is for emergencies only. E-mail will do for everything else.”
Pause.
“Are we done?”
Pause.
“All right. See you then.”
Hayle pressed a button on his phone before turning to me. “That’s it, and then basically no contact for two weeks.”
I studied him, not understanding what he was getting at. “What am I missing? He was just speaking to a co-worker, right?”
“Likely his assistant, but that’s not the strange part. It’s his command to only use his cell for emergencies that I don’t understand. We’re talking about my father here—Mr. Workaholic himself. If he’s away on business, why wouldn’t he be glued to his cell phone? He’s walked away from a thousand dinners to answer calls over my lifetime. It doesn’t make sense.”
I wanted to tell him that he was being paranoid. I also wanted to tell him that I didn’t particularly want to know what Vincent was up to. Some things were better left alone. But I could tell he was determined to uncover this newest mystery, and nothing I said was going to change his mind. So, I would play along the best I could.
“What if the allusion to emergencies only references a specific block of time?” I offered. “Like, if he was going to be in meetings all day with a client?” At this point, I was having to pretend I knew anything about what Vincent actually did on his business trips. Or at all. My understanding of the shipping industry was limited, to say the least.
“Perhaps. But something still isn’t adding up.”
He moved to behind the desk and opened the bottom drawer. I vaguely remembered looking through the files stored there when Leo and I had broken into the study to search